What Went Right?
Well, Dwight Howard did have a pretty good year for being 21 years old. He scored 17.6 points per game and was 3rd in the NBA with 12.3 rebounds per game. He blocked a career high 1.9 blocks per game and shot a career high 60% from the field. Grant Hill had his first solid year with the Magic by playing 65 games and averaging 14.4 points per game. Hedo Turkoglu was inserted into the starting lineup in all 73 games that he played and he responded by averaging 13.3 points per game. Trevor Ariza was able to be the mini-version of Shawn Marion for the Magic by averaging 8.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and a steal per game in just 25 minutes per game. The Magic showed resiliency by hanging onto the 8th and final playoff spot by winning the last 4 games of the season.

What Went Wrong?
While Dwight Howard had a great season for a big man his age, he didn't quite provide the Magic and their fans with what was expected of him. This team was built around Dwight being a force on offense and he simply wasn't. He showed very little improvement in his post game and averaged a killer 3.9 turnovers per game (3rd highest in the league). Jameer Nelson was looking to lead the team and show that he was worth a huge extension this summer. Instead, he averaged fewer points, assists, steals, and lower field goal and three-point percentages than the previous year. J.J. Redick suffered from a hernia early in the summer and took a long time to be able to play well enough to get on the court regularly. He played in just 42 games and shot just 41% from the field. The Magic started out the season with a great November (12-4) before giving that great start right back to the league in December (6-14). The Magic were overmatched once they finally made it to the playoffs and put up practically no fight against the Pistons.

Off-Season Overview
The Orlando Magic made the biggest and boldest splash of the off-season by renouncing Darko Milicic's free agent rights and completing a sign and trade with Seattle for Rashard Lewis. They gave him $118 million over 6 years when nobody else was willing to give him more than about $85 million. The Magic also let Grant Hill go and signed Adonal Foyle after he was waived by the Golden State Warriors due to a buyout of his contract.
Players Added- Center Marcin Gortat (2005 Draft), Center Adonal Foyle (Free Agent, Golden State), Forward Rashard Lewis (Sign and Trade, Seattle), Center Milovan Rakovic (Trade, Dallas)
Players Lost- Small Forward Grant Hill (Free Agent, Phoenix), Point Guard Travis Diener (Free Agent, Indiana), Center Darko Milicic (Free Agent, Memphis), Small Forward Reyshawn Terry (Trade, Dallas)

Phil Barnett's Impact Players-
The Magic seem like they could finally be an elite team in the East again with the arrival of Rashard Lewis, however, the loss of Darko Milicic could prove costly. The Magic are a lot smaller now, and don’t have any help up front off the bench now with Milicic gone. Hopefully they can make up for that void by parameter shooting.

Breakout Player: Choosing a breakout player and a disappointing player for this team was my most difficult assignment. With Dwight Howard starting to look like the center they want him to be and the Rashard Lewis addition could create a lot of wide-open opportunities for shooters like Hedo Turkoglu and J.J. Redick. If Redick can get some playing time under new coach Stan Van Gundy or if Turkoglu can get use to playing out of position or coming off the bench either one of them could benefit from this golden opportunity.

Disappointing Player: This could just as easily be Redick or Turkoglu if they can’t take advantage of what they could potentially be given this season. Redick is going to have to work hard to earn some minutes on the floor and Turkoglu is going to have to become a lot more consistent shooting the ball than he was last year if he is going to continue to start. Either one of these guys could blow it and lose significant or not gain any playing time.

FantasyInsideronline.com Fantasy Sleeper
Trevor Ariza, Small Forward- Ariza’s per 40 minutes averages of 15.8 points and 7.8 rebounds show his value if given the playing time. J.J. Redick will probably come off the bench due to his recovery from a broken bone in his hand this training camp. This will allow Trevor to have a chance at starting for the Magic at the beginning of the season. He fits Stan Van Gundy’s style perfectly and looks like a second coming of Stacey Augmon. Look for Ariza to break the double digit points barrier this season while giving fantasy owners 6 rebounds, a steal and a half plus a block per game.

Best-Case Scenario
Rashard Lewis comes in and transforms this team by proving to be the perfect compliment to Dwight Howard. Jameer Nelson finds his ability to lead this team and be an effective point guard. J.J. Redick becomes the dead-eye shooter that Orlando drafted him to be. Stan Van Gundy comes in a coaches the team up and gets them to play even better defense from last year (7th in the league, 94.0 points per game given up). The Magic surprise everybody and win the division before losing in the first round.

Worst Case Scenario
Dwight Howard isn't able to improve his offense and Rashard Lewis doesn't play hard after getting his ginormous contract. J.J. Redick isn't able to come back soon from his broken bone in his hand and is unable to shoot well from the field. Jameer Nelson regresses even more and is incompetent in running the offense. Adonal Foyle isn't able to provide the Magic with solid minutes and the thin Magic front court proves to be a severe liability. The Magic, devestated by an incomplete team, miss out on the playoffs and get a low lottery pick.

Talkhoops.net Prediction- 2nd in Division, 8th in East
I see the Magic having the same success as they did the previous season but in a different way. The Magic will take some time to completely grasp SVG's system and by the end of the season, they'll be playing very well. Look for Rashard Lewis to play very well with Dwight Howard by mid-season. Dwight Howard, early on in pre-season, looks like he's ready to be dominant on the offensive end of the floor. With his dominance on offense and with Rashard Lewis spreading the floor, Jameer Nelson should be able to revitalize his career. Look for a .500 record and the 8th seed in the East.