Tuesday saw the publication of Built to Lose: How the NBA's Tanking Era Changed the League Forever, a new book from Bleacher Report scribe Jake Fischer.

Overall, I found Fischer's book deeply reported--he conducted more than 300 interviews, on- and off-the-record--and I believe anyone who follows the NBA closely will enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at some of the tanking teams from the mid-2010s. And while Magic fans can attest that period was a low point in the team's history, perhaps they can take solace in the fact they weren't fans of the Sacramento Kings or Phoenix Suns; those two clubs come away looking the worst, in my opinion, of all the teams profiled in the book.

Here's some Magic-related notes I found in my reading.

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In the 2014/15 season, Jacque Vaughn's decision to make Elfrid Payton, a rookie, the team's starting point guard, rather than sticking with Victor Oladipo at the position, backfired. Fischer reports it created "noticeable tension within the Magic locker room" and quotes Magic forward Channing Frye as saying, "If you pick him and that's your guy, you make the hierarchy, put the ball in his hands, let's go. Pick the guy, everyone else will fall in." Further, despite signing Frye as a free agent to provide veteran leadership, the locker room lacked a direction. "I think that was the main issue with us," Orlando center Nikola Vučević tells Fischer. Ultimately, in Fischer's telling, promoting Payton to the starting lineup cost Vaughn the Magic's locker room and lead to his midseason ouster.

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In the same season, current Magic guard Michael Carter-Williams was coming off Rookie of the Year honors with the Philadelphia 76ers, yet general manager Sam Hinkie still considered trading him. One reason: his errant shooting. "Carter-Williams presented the most difficult Sixers player to rebound for after practice," says Fischer. "You had no idea in the world where that ball was going to miss at," an anonymous Sixers assistant tells him.

In the end, Hinkie would indeed trade Carter-Williams, sending him to the Milwaukee Bucks. At the time, Milwaukee's head personnel man was John Hammond, who now serves as a deputy to Jeff Weltman in Orlando. "We had this vision of this big, long team and liked Michael's length," Hammond tells Fischer.

Hammond may have changed teams, but not his philosophy: with him in the front office, the team has prioritized size and length in building its roster, not only with Carter-Williams but also Jonathan Isaac and Mo Bamba.

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The Magic changed coaches again--from Vaughn to interim James Borrego, and then from Borrego to Scott Skiles--to start the 2015/16 season, but similar issues plagued the team. General manager Rob Hennigan re-signed Tobias Harris to a rich contract, only to trade him two days before the deadline. The question as to whether it was Skiles or Hennigan who made the final call to trade Harris hung over the team. Moreover, the players Orlando received in return for Harris never integrated into the team. Fischer says the "some young players" left on the team "hardly spoke" with Brandon Jennings or Ersan İlyasova. For his part, Ilyasova says his Orlando stay was miserable. "I wish it never happened."