In the seasonal press conference, the president of Operations of the Orlando Magic, Jeff Weltman, shared that they will be aggressive in the summer market with the aim of addressing the main deficiencies of the team: exterior shot and offensive versatility.
The Florida franchise chains two seasons as one of the three best defenses in the competition, but, nevertheless, they have not managed to balance the balance on the other side of the court, where they have also been one of the most weak sets, mainly in the launch from long distance. And so they fell to Boston Celtics in the first round of playoffs: giving the face thanks to their defense, but without the possibility of equating the wide offensive arsenal of those of Joe Mazzulla.
“What we need is someone with a proven shooting capacity, a proven offensive game, someone who helps us to compensate for our weaknesses,” Weltman said. «Clearly, we need to improve in attack. Clearly, we need to throw better. Those are the objectives and that is the perspective that we must consider at the beginning of the preseason. I don’t think anything is discarded. The help of veterans, a demonstrated offensive help, is what we will look for ».
If two weeks ago a potential interest was shared in Dalton Knecht, journalists Marc Stein and Jake L. Fischer have added a new name to the Magic objectives list: Anfernee Simons.
At 25, Simons comes from completing a solid campaign in Portland in terms of numbers, thanks to its 19.3 points, with a success of 36.3% in triples, and 4.8 assists in 70 games. However, another campaign out of playoffs mentally an invoice to guardwho is very possible that he is looking for a change of airs. A last year of contract remains at the rate of 27.6 million dollars.
An operation by Simons or Knecht is closed or not, the Executive Dome of the Magic said they will move file and advanced changes during the low season, although without losing the identity of the team. “Most of the improvements in our template will be made by transfers,” Weltman added. «The reason we have been a good team in the last two years is because we have a solid defense. And while we work to improve our attack, we are very aware that we do not want to dismantle our team’s DNA. That is what we have to balance this summer ».
(Cover photography by Jaime Valdez-Imagn images)
