As the Magic
approach the midway point of an extremely disappointing season, GM Jeff Weltman talks about the upcoming trade deadline.
One of the biggest days of Jeff Weltman’s tenure so far as the Orlando Magic’s president of basketball operations is almost a month away.
The NBA trade deadline will arrive on Feb. 8.
Mired near the bottom of the league standings, Weltman and GM John Hammond must decide whether to trade away key members of the team’s nucleus in an effort to build for the future.
In Part 2 of the Orlando Sentinel’s midseason interview with Weltman, he addresses the upcoming trade deadline, the injury to rookie forward Jonathan Isaac and whether the Magic’s nucleus is good enough to build around. Orlando Sentinel: How will you approach the trade deadline? Jeff Weltman: I think we approach it just like I said. We’re trying to evaluate everything, trying to understand where we are as a team, trying to set a course with that. Right now, the trade deadline is just coming on the radar for teams. Teams are starting to touch base now and circle back to one another. We’re all starting to figure
out which teams are trying to do what — what directions they want to send themselves in — and how we all value one another’s players and where the discussion partners are. That’s the stage that we’re in right now. That’ll change as we go forward. Generally, if history is any indicator, it won’t be until closer to the deadline that we really have any real answers for each other. OS: Have you determined what direction you want the Magic to go?
Weltman: We’re still evaluating that. Obviously, the season hasn’t turned out the way that we had hoped, but I think that’s largely been due to factors beyond our control. I think when we were in control we had showed pretty well. So there’s some stock to be put in that. You also have to wake up and have a realistic account of where you sit right now and the reality of the rest of the season and what’s in store. You try to factor in all those things and put it all together and then see what other teams think and whether there are other deals to pull you in a certain direction.
OS: How badly has Jonathan Isaac’s ankle injury impeded his development?
Weltman: The pathway to becoming a high-level NBA player is littered with obstacles and this is just an obstacle for him. I have no doubt. None of us have any doubt. Our medical people are very confident, and we all on the basketball side are [confident] that Jonathan is going to get past this shortly and develop into an elitelevel player.
But we want to do it the right way. We want to let time unfold in the right progression and not force it. I think we said early on that we don’t want to rush the process with Jonathan. We knew when we drafted Jonathan that he’s not the type of guy just to come in and impact the league in a way that others may be prepared for because physically he’s just not there yet. So we look at Jonathan as a guy that we’re tremendously excited about, that we think is going to be a big part of our bright future. We’ll bring him along the right way.
OS: Where does the team as a whole need to grow and improve?
Weltman: We need to improve in every area. There’s no place where we can’t get better. I need to do a better job. Organizationally, we just all need to improve. We need to be better. What we’ve done hasn’t been good enough, so organizationally we all need to lift ourselves up. We need to add in every way. I know that sounds very vague. There’s no corner of our house that we can’t get better.
OS: Is Aaron Gordon’s growth as a shooter the biggest on-court improvement that you’ve seen?
Weltman: Yes. Forget about my opinion. It’s just a fact where his shooting numbers have come from and gone to this season has been remarkable. That’s just a testament to the work that he puts in. The guy is a relentless worker, and he’s a really hungry, competitive kid who wants to win in the worst way. That’s part of what our DNA will be about.
OS: You took the job in May. Is this job more difficult than you expected it to be?
Weltman: I know because of our record and because of all the injuries that we’ve sustained that it’s been a tough road to hoe for our fans this year. But I’ve never been more excited than I am right now when I think about what the future of this team holds. I think we have some tremendous young talents on this team. I think that we are going to be in a position to add more talents like that, and I think that the overall age and experience level of our team being what it is that there’s growth built in. When you take all of those things together, and I think as we start to understand what we have and grow the team in the way that we feel is appropriate, I think this team has a very, very bright future and an exciting future.
But we will do it at the right pace. We will do it the right way. I’ve always said we’re not going to do it fast, we’re going to do it right. The NBA is set up in a series of cycles, a series of deadlines, timelines, and you can’t just come in and override the natural order. You have to do things within the system, within the cycles. As we cycle through, I fully expect that we will ramp up to a very exciting future for this team.
OS: If you look at the team’s record over the last three years, this nucleus has almost exclusively struggled. Sure, there have been points where it’s played well together. Yet at the same time, the nucleus hasn’t proven that it can win consistently. Isn’t that an argument against your opinion that this team has very good talent?
Weltman: Not at all. I think it’s a great point and I think it’s accurate. A lot of people have made a big issue of continuity. In the places I’ve been, I’ve been one to make a big issue of continuity. I know John [did] where he was. But continuity must be earned. You can’t just keep a group together, because continuity in itself doesn’t win. It’s continuity of a successful nucleus that you want to build with.
The question that you ask [is], “Is this nucleus good enough to go forward with?” My answer to that would be we’re evaluating that. I would probably say that the whole team the way it’s currently comprised has not earned the right to establish continuity yet. It hasn’t earned that right.
Our job is to figure out [is] that just because it was brought together at a certain time and now it’s turning the corner, as players do? Or is it that certain people of that group can turn the corner and others won’t? We have a bunch of new players this year that weren’t here before … so half of our guys are new to the team. So I don’t think at all it’s a contradiction to say that the nucleus that has been in place hasn’t won but still say that I’m excited that the guys on this team can formulate a very successful nucleus going forward.