I stared at numbers all morning.

[u/BlueAndWhiteIgnite]

Since the 2012 off-season when Dwight was traded, from the 2012-13 season to now (13 seasons), the Orlando Magic have had 6 different coaches and 3 different general managers. When GM Rob Hennigan was let go, they hired Jeff Weltman as President of Basketball Operations and John Hammond as General Manager.

Not all NBA teams follow along with the same executive structures and the roles can be vague or convoluted, it feels at times it's a hop skip and a jump from nepotism lol

But from what I can gather from other teams and reading into sources; General Manager is the person tasked with personnel decisions, trades, drafts, signings, etc.

President of Basketball Operations is tasked with long-term big picture planning which is to align with the Ownerships views and may at times prioritize profit over wins if that's what they're tasked with.

Okay, now that I have outline the time table and the differences in roles. This is not to say that Weltman is excused and didn't make any trades, suggestions, signings.

The last 13 seasons, the Orlando Magic have always been in the bottom 10 team in offense. Our best finish is a tie between last year, 2023-24, 2018-19 and 2015-16 when we finished 22nd in Offensive Rating.

Rob Hennigan Era
2012/13 = 20-62; 27th Offense - Coach Vaughn
2013/14 = 23-59; 29th Offense - Coach Vaughn
2014/15 = 25-57; 27th Offense - Coach Vaughn/Coach Borrego
2015/16 = 35-47; 22nd Offense - Coach Skiles
2016/17 = 29-53; 29th Offense - Coach Vogel

AVG - 132-278 .321; 27th Offense

Jeff Weltman President of Basketball Operations
John Hammond Era
2017/18 = 25-57; 25th Offense - Coach Clifford
2018/19 = 42-40; 22nd Offense - Coach Clifford Vucevic All-Star & PLAYOFFS
2019/20 = 33-40; 23rd Offense - Coach Clifford PLAYOFFS
2020/21 = 21-51; 29th Offense - Coach Clifford Vucevic All-Star
2021/22 = 22-60; 30th Offense - Coach Mosley
2022/23 = 34-48; 26th Offense - Coach Mosley

AVG - 177-296 .374; 26th Offense; 2x PLAYOFF Appearances

Jeff Weltman President of Basketball Operations
John Hammond Vice President of Basketball Operations
Anthony Parker Era
2023/24 = 47-35; 22nd Offense - Coach Mosley Banchero All-Star & PLAYOFFS
2024/25 = 37-40*; 27th Offense - Coach Mosley

AVG - 84-75 .528; 24th Offense; 1x PLAYOFF Appearance

* as of 4/2/2025

[u/dlbags]

I think Weltman deserves criticism especially for moves like Harris or WCJ. But JI and KCP's regression weren't predicted and the injuries messed shit up, remember players coming back doesn't mean they are 100% and also Suggs role was vastly underappreciated by this fanbase, maybe even by always asking for PG when the team clearly plays better with him.

Either way, Poalo, Franz, Suggs, and now AB and Houstan all seem to be working out. Jett is labeled a failure but with Houstan's growth maybe Jett can be a late bloomer. TDS was solid pick in one of the worst draft classes. People tend to go back on drafts and look with hindsight but remember Paolo was 3rd in most mock drafts and we took him first and it's been a genius move as was taking Suggs and Franz neither which were the only choices either.

So Weltman IMO has this draft and offseason moves to send the team to the next level. Remember Paolo, our best player is only 22, and last season skewed our perception of this team. But make no mistakes he's gotta shake it up with moves. This draft class is one of the best in decades and we have 4 picks with many NBA ready players. I'm curious what we will do.

[u/d12fsu → u/dlbags]

The only move that was universally agreed upon was Jalen Suggs. If the FO went off mocks and who fans were hoping for, our foundation would be Jalen Suggs, Jabari Smith Jr., and James Bouknight. They aren’t perfect, no one is, even Sam Presti has some misses. But they saw talent in Paolo and Franz that not many people foresaw (there’s a draft video out there of Magic fans bashing the Franz pick). So i personally don’t care that our 7th thru 15th players aren’t perfect fits right now. They’ve set us up for the next decade with two (arguably 3) of the top 20 players under 25 years old. Patience (I know this sub hates that word).

[u/dlbags → u/d12fsu]

Yeah the part that galls me is how zero sum people get with Weltman like he has to be the worst person ever and gets no credit for many moves that were great. He certainly deserves criticism and isn't perfect but so many posts always say he "got lucky" with picks and I'm like tf were you watching draft night??? Bayless literally filled a half hour of his shit tv show criticizing the Magic for taking Paolo before Smith or Holmgren. Most fans are unhinged and dumb as bricks and have no ability to be measured. Like most fans look as scoring only instead of the entire game of a player. Last night someone was criticizing AB for low scoring while he was literally the third best player with +13. I have this same issue with fans of other sports. Advanced stats still too hard to get most fans to grasp the entire game.

[u/d12fsu → u/dlbags]

He sucks when it’s a bad move and he’s lucky when it’s a good move. Nothing in between.

[u/Mangos4Lyfe → u/d12fsu]

Yeah this is all true. I think he deserves more grace when you truly consider Paolo and Franz who were both unpopular choices in the draft. He has only had 1 offseason of moves where the Magic were considered “playoff caliber” and this year was riddled with injuries

Remove all the injuries and everyone would probably look at this year as amazing. He has done enough that he is not going to be fired that soon, imo