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Asking Twitter for feedback really didn't go how the Magic hoped

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Asking Twitter for feedback really didn't go how the Magic hoped

NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum announces that the Orlando Magic have the 11th pick in the 2016 NBA draft. (AP/Julie Jacobson)
NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum announces that the Orlando Magic have the 11th pick in the 2016 NBA draft. (AP/Julie Jacobson)

As Summer League winds down and we move toward the quieter part of the NBA’s offseason, NBA teams and their social media squads must look for ways to keep fans engaged and involved during a period without much in the way of live action. Sometimes, though, a call to action can come back to bite you. Just ask the Orlando Magic.

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On Saturday morning, the Magic’s official Twitter account gave fans and followers a prompt:

Seems straightforward enough, right? Just one problem, though: not everybody particularly enjoyed the Magic’s offseason!

The Magic kicked off their summertime shake-up by shipping out guard Victor Oladipo, 2016 lottery pick Domantas Sabonis and floor-spacing power forward Ersan Ilyasova for defensive-minded Oklahoma City Thunder big man Serge Ibaka. On one hand, Orlando just imported a 26-year-old with three All-Defensive First Team appearances under his belt with a track record of being able to protect the rim, space the floor by knocking down 3s and, when put to work, function as a screener and dive-man in the pick-and-roll, one who seems to would seem to fit well next to offense-first, defense-maybe-later-if-I-get-around-to-it center Nikola Vucevic.

On the other, though, they gave up a former No. 2 overall draft pick who had shown flashes (too infrequently, but still) of being an electric potential top-line performer, plus another lottery pick, for a player with one year left on his contract who will chase a giant maximum-salaried contract next summer. That evidently didn’t sit too well with some folks:

Whatever your verdict on the Ibaka trade, the frontcourt fit got even tighter when Orlando then gave another Congolese shot-swatter, Bismack Biyombo, a four-year, $72 million contract. After falling out of favor in Charlotte, Biyombo revived his career last season with the Toronto Raptors, acting as a game-changing rim protector, rebounder and pick-and-roll finisher off the bench for Dwane Casey during the regular season before turning in star-level performances as a postseason starter after Jonas Valanciunas went down with an ankle injury.

Hitting the market fresh off that playoff run at age 23 in an economy flush with cash, it’s not surprising that Biyombo got paid starter money. It is kind of surprising, though, that the team to pay it was Orlando, which already had Vucevic entrenched as a starting five and had just paid a pretty penny in trade for Ibaka.

The Magic then further complicated their forward rotation by spending $15 million to import Jeff Green, a player widely considered a good soldier and solid citizen who looks like a prototype combo forward but never quite plays like one, struggling to reliably rebound, shoot from outside or defend.

All that maneuvering has led to some questions.

With Vucevic and Biyombo at center, and Ibaka at power forward, and Green on board as a small forward/small-ball four, where does Orlando find enough minutes, and enough minutes in the right spots, to foster the growth of hard-charging and high-flying forward Aaron Gordon? If Gordon and Green wind up seeing significant time on the wing, after bringing back Evan Fournier on a five-year, $85 million contract to slot in at shooting guard, where and for how long does 2015 lottery pick Mario Hezonja fit in? Why pay D.J. Augustin $29 million to play the point when you’ve already got Elfrid Payton entrenched as the starter and you gave C.J. Watson a three-year, $15 million deal to back him up last summer?

And while Payton has shown signs of being a dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands, and Gordon is certainly an electric finisher, and Vucevic is one of the league’s smoothest interior scorers, despite the return of Fournier and the import of veteran marksmen Augustin and Jodie Meeks, the roster as presently constituted looks light on shooting and scoring talent. This looks like it could be an even more offensively deficient crew than the one that finished 22nd among 30 NBA teams in points scored per possession last year, 22nd in 3-pointers attempted and 23rd in triples made:

It bears mentioning that some fans were intrigued by Orlando’s decision to reshape its roster by doubling down on defense under new head coach Frank Vogel:

Others, though, were a bit more direct in communicating their skepticism:

The sum of the club’s moves left many observers pretty unsure what exactly the Magic seem to want to be moving forward:

… and, shall we say, unconvinced Orlando’s going to make meaningful improvements this season:

… which has some wondering if this latest attempt at a reboot might be the last stand for the administration of general manager Rob Hennigan:

Sometimes, the three words you really want to use just aren’t suitable for work.

Well, that's certainly three words.
Well, that’s certainly three words.

And sometimes, you use your three words to call on a higher power.

Hey, look on the bright side, Magic: you found a way to keep your fans talking over the weekend. There’s something to be said for that, right?

More NBA coverage:

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!

Stay connected with Ball Don’t Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, “Like” BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.

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