2019-20 Eastern Conference Standings Predictions: Where do the Charlotte Hornets sit?

No. 9 – Orlando Magic

Former Charlotte Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford surprised many last season by leading the Orlando Magic to the playoffs. They were the seventh seed and even stole a game in Toronto on the road in the playoffs. They’ve had a really quiet off-season and are essentially running it back, which may not be a good thing.

Orlando re-signed their key guys in Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross, and did make a great move by signing Al Farouq-Aminu, who is a near elite defender. He was their only major signing this summer.

I think they could very well make it back to the playoffs again this year, but as some Eastern Conference teams are getting better, they pretty much stayed the same, which is a risk considering they were a lower-tier playoff team. They will be hoping for major improvement and contributions from former lottery picks Markelle Fultz and Mo Bamba.

Orlando is going to be very good defensively, with players like Jonathan Isaac and Aminu holding it down on the perimeter. I do worry about them offensively, but Clifford is a great coach who gets the best out of his players. We’ll see if they can return to the playoffs again in 2019-20; they are certainly an intriguing team.