The calendar has nearly turned to August, meaning we are somewhere near the mid-point of the offseason. It is not quite the 2010-11 season -- but the schedule should be coming out soon.

This might be the time then to officially close our thoughts on the 2009-10 campaign. You would hope any problems that persisted on that team have been corrected in the offseason, or a new and improved team has been assembled. Or somewhere in the middle.

This post is not about what Orlando did or did not do this summer to make up for the team's Eastern Conference Finals loss. Rather, it is an attempt to find the team's place in the annals of Magic history (and to spark a little debate).

The first thing, and I think we can all agree on this, is that the 2010 season was at least in the top four for the Magic. The 1995, 1996, 2009 and 2010 teams were the only four to make the conference finals. The four teams had the best regular season records in team's history and went the furthest.

The only thing you can debate is the order in which to put the four, but these are the top four. Agreed?

So how do you order those four and where does 2010 rank?

If you value playoff experience and how far the team went, then it is safe to say 2010 was the third best season in Magic history. The 1995 and 2009 teams went all the way to the Finals. The 1996 and 2010 teams went to the conference finals. Maybe if Horace Grant did not get hurt and Nick Anderson were not fighting off an injury the 1996 Magic would have gotten a game against the 72-10 Bulls.

Then again, the 2010 Magic were one loss away from getting swept themselves. But they dug down deep and got a Game Three win on the road.

If you value regular season -- most of the games are played during the regular season, right? -- 1996 is your winner. The team won a franchise-high 60 games that year. But that would also make 1995 your loser. And that season holds too many special memories and mystique around it to be rated as the worst of the four seasons (then again, maybe that does not matter).

If you value the team's best player, you are making the Shaquille O'Neal/Dwight Howard argument that always seems to be on the tips of every Magic fans' tongue. O'Neal was a more developed offensive player and the mid-90s Magic had one of the more dynamic offensive attacks, featuring a go-to perimeter scorer in Penny Hardaway that the current iteration of the Magic lack.

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The promotions of Otis Smith, Bob Vander Weide and Alex Martins cements the Magic's financial future. Those three have been making the majority of the business decisions for the last four or five years and have ushered in a championship caliber team and the move to a new arena. It is a good time to be a Magic fan and these three men have done a whole lot to do that.

Arguably the big difference for Orlando is how Rich DeVos has opened up his pocket book.

In the Tracy McGrady days, the team splurged in trying to acquire McGrady, Grant Hill and Tim Duncan in one summer. The Magic only got McGrady and Hill. But as Hill struggled to recover from a serious ankle injury and McGrady blossomed, DeVos decided to wait Hill's contract out and did everything he could to avoid the luxury tax.

It kept Orlando from realizing its full potential and probably irked McGrady to the point where he wanted a trade away from his hometown team.

If you would have told 2002 Rich DeVos that by the end of the decade his team would have the second highest payroll in the league, he might have laughed at you.

But it is no laughing matter. At a payroll of approximately $89.9 million, the Magic are second only to the two-time defending champion Lakers.

Smith has not been shy about spending money -- even with Rashard Lewis' "albatross" contract on the books -- especially after Orlando reached the Finals in 2009. He has done this though with the complete blessing of DeVos and Vander Weide, the two men who ultimately pay all the bills.

Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel related why DeVos had this sudden change of heart and decided to open his pocketbook. The main reason: DeVos' short window to see his team win a championship.

Robbins writes: "About three years ago, Vander Weide sat down with his father-in-law, Magic Owner Rich DeVos, and asked DeVos if he was willing to accept the financial costs of building a potentially elite NBA team.

"Vander Weide recalled: 'I wanted to do that, because at the end of the day, I may work in this business for three more years, four more years, five more years, but I’m going to live the business as a family for hopefully the next 25.

"'Rich DeVos, at 84, having someone else’s heart inside of him 12 or 13 years ago may not have that same opportunity. So, when I go to him as our chairman, it’s on the basis of, 'How quickly do you want to push this opportunity?' He just simply said, 'You know what, I’m loving the team. I don’t want to lose any of the talent we have. Keep building.''"

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Otis Smith returned from the depths of NBA summer (vacation? secret phone calls with New Orleans?), accepted his promotion to Orlando's president of basketball operations and returned to the team's quest to find a third point guard.

As much as Magic fans may hate it, this is really the last thing they might do for the rest of the offseason. The roster at that point will be complete. Anything else that happens after that would be completely unexpected -- also known as Otis' m.o.

Free agency has slowed to a crawl and the pickings are slim. But some lucky point guard out there will get the opportunity to push Chris Duhon in practice and fill in for him if (or when) Jameer Nelson gets injured. Since Nelson's injuries appear to be a common occurrence in his career -- Nelson has played 75 games or more just twice in his six-year career.

Who might be left? Here are a few candidates to join the Magic next year in that third point guard role:

Jason Williams
Otis Smith said during today's media availability announcing his promotion that he is interested in having Williams return to the team to compete for the backup point guard spot or fill in that third point guard role.

Williams averaged 6.0 points per game and 3.6 assists per game as Orlando's backup point guard. But in the postseason he scored only 2.6 points per game and 1.6 assists per game really failing to deliver when the team needed him. His playoff and finals experience never really showed through although he admirably filled in for Nelson early in the season and played fantastic off the bench.

Williams said he would like to remain in Florida -- it was really something that was important for him to come out of retirement -- and it looks like he will not get more than the minimum so he may have to pick between the Heat and the Magic. Miami has been quiet since signing Carlos Arroyo so maybe Orlando will bring him back.

Chris Quinn
If Williams does not work there is another former Miami point guard Orlando could go with. That would be Chris Quinn.

According to The Orlando Sentinel, the Magic have been in contact with Quinn's agent and have had discussions about bringing him in. Quinn would bring a good shooter and an experienced point guard to the roster.

His time on the floor has decreased though. He played in only 25 games last year with New Jersey (yes, the worst team in the NBA by record last season) and averaged 2.2 points per game. But in 2008-09, he played in 66 games and scored 5.1 points per game and shot 40.8 percent from beyond the arc.

His best season came the year before that when he started in 25 games for Miami and averaged a career-best 7.8 points per game and shot 40.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Quinn obviously does not have the consistency or experience Williams provided. But he also would more likely accept the role Orlando would be willing to give him and fight with Chris Duhon for the backup position.

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The Magic will announce Wednesday that they have extended the contracts of coach Stan Van Gundy and Otis Smith through the 2012-13 season, Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel reports.

Van Gundy has accumulated a 170-76 record in three seasons as the head coach of the Magic, including a trip to the NBA Finals and last year's trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. He has been at the helm for what is undoubtedly the best three-year run in the franchise's history.

Smith has been a big part of that too. He brought in Van Gundy after Billy Donovan did his about face back to Gainesville. Smith has had his ups and downs as a general manager. He drafted Fran Vazquez, hired Donovan and signed Rashard Lewis to a maximum contract (which despite the team's results the past three years is still a ridiculous deal for him). Smith will now hold the title of president of basketball operations.

But at the same time, Smith has built a team that fights hard, plays defense and wins. Hate Lewis all you want, but Van Gundy has done a good job molding this team into an Eastern Conference power. Smith has been very shrewd with many of his draft picks, taking Courtney Lee and JJ Redick -- especially in his ability to sit and wait for Redick to develop and mature rather than give up on him and trade him when he asked.

Bringing in Van Gundy still might be his best decision. Yes, Van Gundy has been slow to adapt his team to different playing styles and also has been stubborn to change rotations at times. But the record and success speaks for itself.

Will this tandem take Orlando over the top and to a championship? That is the big question they will have to answer in the next three seasons.

In addition to Van Gundy and Smith, the Magic also promoted COO Alex Martins to President. Martins has been the business face of the team in its bid to build the Amway Center. And at that he has been pretty successful it is safe to say.

The Magic are moving to Amway Center next year and it is still hard to imagine what the new building is going to be like -- a LOT better than Amway Arena, no matter how much we love the old building. There are going to be a lot of amenities Magic fans are not used to.

But we will not know exactly what Amway Center is going to be like until we enter the building for the first time. Amway Center might still be a dream to long-time Magic fans who see the arena as the godsend to keep the team in Orlando.

Amway Center is slowly becoming a reality. Tuesday the team released photos of completed signs outside the arena. Amway Center officially has its name tag and we only have to wait almost two more months before we get to step inside for a Magic game.

From the Orlando Magic: On Monday, July 26, 2010, the Amway Center sign was completed on the east side of the facility. The sign, which was based off design drawings from RipBang Studios, Inc. and was locally fabricated and installed by Design Communications Ltd., faces I-4 and is 83’11” wide, while the ‘A’ in Amway stands 12’ tall. The Orlando Magic is the developer of the Amway Center which will compete to host major national events, concerts and family shows. Opening in the fall of 2010, the facility will be owned and operated by the City of Orlando on behalf of the Central Florida community.

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Chris Paul, long linked in potential trades to the Magic, emerged from his meeting with the Hornets front office committed to winning and winning in the Crescent City.

Or that is what he is saying at least: "The meeting went well. It was great to get an opportunity to sit down with coach Williams, [team] president [Hugh] Weber and our new general manager, Dell Demps," Paul's statement said. "I expressed my desire to win and I like what they said about the direction that they want to take the team. I have been a Hornet my entire career and I hope to represent the city of New Orleans and state of Louisiana for many years to come."

Demps said Paul never asked for a trade and that he came out of the meeting excited about the franchise's future (they are apparently due a ton of cap room next summer... whatever that may mean with the new collective bargaining agreement).

So for now the trade rumors will die down and Otis Smith, who was paying no mind to the rumors anyhow, will go back to trying to find a third point guard to complete the Magic's roster.

That will likely be it for Orlando this offseason. If there is going to be a major move, it likely would not happen until the February trade deadline -- when Vince Carter's contract will likely be able to net more in a trade and the team will know exactly what it needs to complete its quest for a championship.

Of course it is still difficult to believe New Orleans can get what it needs to return to the level it was at two years ago and Paul is the type of player that wants to win -- and with all his buddies in positions to win, he wants to win now.

Some do not believe the Paul drama is over. Something might still happen with Paul.

But for now all things are quiet.