Team building in the NBA is very difficult. 

Consider the Orlando Magic. They have patient, deep-pocketed ownership, smart and experienced management with an eye on the big picture and loads of high-end talent. 

They sold off an underwhelming core at the right time and turned the draft capital into one of the best young forwards in the game in Franz Wagner, taken eighth overall in 2021 with one of the picks they got from the Chicago Bulls. They tanked briefly but effectively and ended up with Jalen Suggs, taken No. 5 in 2021, and Paolo Banchero, taken first overall in 2022. Banchero became an all-star in his second season at age 21, and Suggs was all-defence in his third season at 22. 

Having made the playoffs two years in a row, the Magic then went for it and cashed in some draft capital (as in four unprotected first-round picks and a pick swap) for Desmond Bane, a tough, two-way wing to bolster their biggest weaknesses: shot creation and three-point shooting. 

He’s played well this season. 

There are more good moves — drafting up-and-coming Anthony Black in the lottery in 2023 and Tristan Da Silva in 2024. Both look like long-term rotation players. 

But sometimes things just don’t come together. For the Magic, it’s been most of this snake-bitten season, but it may have culminated Sunday evening at Scotiabank Arena. 

In a game with significant Eastern Conference playoff implications, the Magic looked like a team fiddling through the pre-season.

The Raptors' 139-87 win doesn’t quite capture the Magic’s capitulation. Over a nearly eight-minute stretch in the first half, the Raptors scored 31 unanswered points, an NBA record for the play-by-play era (since the 1996-97 season, roughly 30 years). 

“I actually didn’t know that that was even happening,” said Scottie Barnes, who set a new career-high with 15 assists to go along with 23 points and three steals in 28 minutes. His three steals gave him a career-best 102 on the season, and along with his 109 blocks, make him the only player in the NBA to top 100 of each so far this year. “I think we were all super locked in. Just trying to keep causing turnovers and keep trying as hard as we can on defence that it just helped the lead grow for us.”

Orlando gave up 19........

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