Al Horford (Photo : Twitter)
The Orlando Magic has shifted its focus from competing for this season to placing themselves in the thick of NBA free agency this summer.
It's not that they are tanking, but they have relieved themselves of contracts and now have cap space to become players in the off-season bonanza.
While there were some pundits who criticized the move because this is probably the most competitive free agency in NBA history with so many teams having cap space because of an unprecedented salary cap spike, the Magic believe they could be a free agent destination.
An article in Sir Charles In Charge has already declared that the Magic will indeed pursue free agents and while Kevin Durant is always the dream, they have set their sights on what they believe would be more realistic options.
Al Horford was a name they floated around and one of the reasons they pointed out was the team's location. Horford played college ball in Florida as a Gator and they won back to back titles. That team included Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer.
What's more, Florida is near the Dominican Republic, Horford's country of origin and Horford himself admitted that he would like to be in a city with a "stronger Spanish influence. There is also the fact that Florida does not have state taxes.
Just how much of a force will the Magic be in terms of recruiting free agents? Even other teams' blogs are wary as The Smoking Cuban, a team site for the Dallas Mavericks, discussed the possibility that the Magic can spirit away Chandler Parsons, who is an Orlando native.
Parsons' family and friends recently watched him when the Mavs visited the Magic, and while it is much smaller in scope, there were rumblings of "Chandler come home." Perhaps it's part of a plan, as insinuated by their recent trades.
"The Magic will be sitting back with young players in Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo in the backcourt while being anchored down with Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon in the front court," The Smoking Cuban analyzed. "The blaring hole is obviously the small forward spot in the middle. Combine that with the fact that even if Parsons gets over $20 million , they will still have plenty of room to continue shopping on the market for pieces around him (maybe more Florida Gators in Joakim Noah and Al Horford)."
The Orlando Magic could be the sleeper of the summer. They have young, talented players that they patiently collected. They are probably the best definition of a team that's one star short.
