We’ve been over this before, so you’ll have to excuse me going over the same ground. The point remains, though. The Magic are loaded. Stacked. Whatever.

This team goes a legitimate 12 deep. Cackle all you want about Jason Williams’ tats or J.J. Redick’s(notes) pomade, but they can play, and they’re the 11th and 12th men. Twelve deep.

And at the front of that rotation? The best center in the NBA. An All-Star-level point guard. Vince Carter. A lockdown defender with shooting range. And Rashard Lewis(notes). The best backup center in the NBA. An underrated scoring forward with hops. A white hot shooter that nobody, outside of NBA junkies, seems to know about.

This is a team that went to the Finals last season, and in the offseason upgraded its bench significantly, upgraded its small forward position (or whatever you want to call the Hedo Turkoglu/Vince Carter switch) and traded in an average point man in Rafer Alston for the healthy return of Jameer Nelson(notes).

Think about that last part. How would we feel about the Bucks if they switched Luke Ridnour(notes) for Jameer Nelson? How would we feel about the Sixers if they switched Lou Williams for Jameer Nelson? Well, that’s what the Magic have done.

Topping that, Mickael Pietrus(notes) will be better. Dwight Howard(notes) will continue to improve. Nelson’s young, so he’ll keep getting better. Lewis will stay the same, but Brandon Bass and Marcin Gortat(notes) will improve. That’s right, they signed Brandon Bass. And Matt Barnes. And Ryan Anderson. They traded for Anderson, who is shooting 54 percent in the preseason. A preseason that saw the Magic go undefeated in eight games.

Want to pick on the Hedo/Vince switchover? Go ahead. I’ve not been all that happy with Vince myself over the years, and I appreciate what Hedo brings to the table.

But Vince shoots better. From inside and outside the arc. He scores more efficiently and more often. He passes and rebounds the same, and his pure point rating is better than Hedo’s.

Also, think back to last season’s Finals. Think back to Hedo dribbling against Trevor Ariza(notes), getting nowhere. Working with nothing to show for it. This is something you want to sustain? Why not add a player that’s better at, uh, everything?

The only trip up I see with the Magic is a bit of complacency.

Last season’s team, I’m sorry, but it overachieved. I’m not telling you that it was worse than an Eastern Conference champion, but by maxing out it’s absolute potential, it overachieved. Because no team ever really maxes out like that.

But Stan Van Gundy? He had these guys playing in the Finals every night. He had them in the moment, working, terrorizing teams defensively, and doing what it could offensively.

Does that sustain? Can they keep up this sort of dogged effort for two consecutive seasons? When we say “[young player who is a year older] will improve,” we’re counting on an improvement from 2008-09, when the player in question gave his all. Does that happen again?

Sure, the added depth helps. If the fervor isn’t there, as it was last season, the Magic can fall back on having Barnes and Anderson and Bass and Williams and Gortat around. But they’re also going to have to listen to SVG and peel off what he’s asking for. Continued defensive commitment, sound spacing, smart play. Inspired play. The play that got you within a few wins of the ultimate payoff last season.

If they want to get back, and decide not to rest on their laurels, we could have Orlando’s first championship. If they bank on, “well, Vince is better,” then they’re in trouble. Huge trouble. Because no team ever wins 60 games just because they’re supposed to.

Darkness aside, the Magic are right there. They have Cleveland’s number in terms of matchups, and they’re deeper and more talented than Boston. The C’s without K.G. took Orlando to seven games last season, but that was against Alston, Hedo, et al. This is a much, much better team. The offseason upgrades are hugely significant. In terms of Finals runner-ups, it’s almost unprecedented.

That said, the Magic have to be mindful of the work that got them to June in the first place. Without that sweating on their behalf, Orlando would just be a highly-regarded disappointment.

I have a feeling that won’t happen on Stan Van Gundy’s watch.

Prediction: 64-18

— Kelly Dwyer