​In an offseason in which big moves were made across the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic were excluded from such dealings. For Orlando’s front office, a mix of belief in the current roster and the restrictions over being over the first apron threshold gave way to an offseason of little activity. The Magic brought back Jonathan Isaac and Jevon Carter while adding veteran big man Nikola Vucevic in July, and they did so while losing Moe Wagner and Jett Howard.Later additions included Malaki Branham and JD Davison, but neither moved the needle. With such marginal transactions defining this summer, it puts greater onus on incoming head coach Sean Sweeney and the starting five from last season to elevate the team.It also weakens the Magic in the eyes of some. Recently, Law Murray of The Athletic released power rankings that saw Orlando fall from No. 14 in his previous list to No. 16.Murray points to the heavy lifting that will need to be done by Sweeney and the likes of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane, who make up the star power of the team. He also highlights the Magic’s injury history, writing that Sweeney will have to figure out missing one of Banchero, Suggs or Wagner at some point during the season, calling it “inevitable.”Murray’s words are driven more by concern than by an inspiration of confidence in this group, but the truth of the matter is that Orlando’s injury history and their first season with a new, first-time head coach create a situation where optimism should be exercised cautiously.For the Magic, the time to put words into actions is coming up quickly, and I discussed their aspirations and what is ahead of them on the latest episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast:”The Magic have had to operate conservatively, and this signing of Branham is an indication that they are continuing to do so. But you know, we’re in this situation now where all of the stuff that we’ve been talking about throughout the offseason is going to be put into effect, and it’s going to materialize.We’re going to hear from players more extensively here at the end of the month during media day, and then we have the training camp, and then preseason, right? And so, we’re going to see Sean Sweeney as a head coach in full effect. We’re going to see how the young guys, especially during the preseason, have gotten better over the summer. We’re going to see a lot of different things from this group that is ready to take the next step, right? I’ve kind of talked about that ad nauseam on this show.This group is ready for more. That’s the reason why the organization pivoted to hiring Sean Sweeney after dismissing Jamahl Mosley: they felt that he was the right guy to lead this team from the sidelines, and now it is all going to be put into practice.”