NBA free agency 2017: Orlando Magic receive “solid” marks for offseason

Barring any unexpected trades, the Orlando Magic’s offseason—their first with Jeff Weltman and John Hammon in charge—is over. The team added Jonathan Isaac and Wesley Iwundu in the NBA Draft, and then inked a handful of players, headlined by Jonathon Simmons and Marreese Speights, in free agency. And while those transactions may not substantially move the needle for the rebuilding club, they certainly didn’t set it back, either.

That’s my own assessment, anyway, and it appears as though ESPN analyst Kevin Pelton feels similarly. Wednesday he published his grades for the offseasons of each Eastern Conference team on ESPN Insider, and Orlando earned a B-minus.

Though Pelton questions the relatively rich contract the Magic gave Shelvin Mack—Pelton calls it “the annual Orlando overpay of a backup point guard”—he praises Weltman and Hammond for a solid “investment” in Simmons and a good “value” pickup in Isaac.

All told, only five other Eastern teams earned better grades from Pelton than Orlando did. And while that fact may say more about the questionable decisions some of the Magic’s conference rivals made, it still demonstrates that, by most reasonable measures, Orlando may be on the upswing.

How would you grade Weltman and Hammond’s first summer at the Magic’s helm? Is Pelton’s B-minus grade fair? Let’s talk it out in the comments.