There is a lot of mystery about where the Magic will go in the long term. A lot of it will depend on where the ping pong balls bounce this year and (likely) next year. It also depends on where several veterans might end up in trades.

There are still roster spots to fill and roster spots to fight for and several Magic players getting a ton of playing time right now who do not have very certain futures. In all, the Magic have five players who could potentially hit free agency this offseason. There are some that are certain to be dealt with -- Al Harrington and Hedo Turkoglu both have decently significant buyouts the Magic could exercise.

For young players like E'Twaun Moore, DeQuan Jones and Kyle O'Quinn the future is both settled and unsettled. All three are getting plenty of playing time right now. All three could become a free agent this summer if the Magic decide not to bring them back.

Jones could hit restricted free agency . . . or he could become an unrestricted free agent if the Magic do not offer him a qualifying offer. Moore and O'Quinn do not have guaranteed contracts next year.

As Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel wrote before Sunday's game against Cleveland, these players are more or less auditioning for a spot on next year's team.

You're only as good as your last game, or in this case, your last few games," [DeQuan] Jones said. "So [I want] to pretty much leave an imprint on the league and our fans and everybody that's watching us with a glimpse of what they have to look forward to next season."

All three could very likely be back for the Magic next year as part of the team's rebuilding project. E'Twaun Moore has spent most of the year as the backup point guard. DeQuan Jones and Kyle O'Quinn have gotten more playing time recently. It seems far fetched to see the Magic let these players go after just one year.

However, that possibility does exist and nothing is ever guaranteed in the NBA. Decisions have to be made for these players and evaluations have to be made.

The important thing is the Magic have the decision on what to do with these three players. If they want to bring them back, it is the team's prerogative.

As much prgoress and development has occurred this year, there is still the reality of the NBA to face. There are draft picks to make and account books to balance. As good as Moore, Jones and O'Quinn have been, they may be the ones lost in the shuffle in the next stage.

The Magic just needed one shot to fall to stem one more tide from the Cavaliers.

Orlando had controlled the game the entire way, taking eight-point leads in both the first and third quarter and staying in the lead for pretty much the entire game. Nikola Vucevic was dominating the glass. Kyrie Irving was struggling. The defense was creating stops.

The Magic were doing everything seemingly right to break this losing skid and go home from this long road trip with at least one win.

Like so many games this year though the Magic faltered at the end of the game. Whether it was fatigue, inexperience or coaching or whatever else it might be, the Magic could not finish and could not eke out a win. It was another disappointing and frustrating loss for a team that has shown plenty of growth, but not the wins that should come with that.

The Cavaliers took the lead with a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter for a four-point lead. They held on, getting to the line and taking advantage of the Magic's tired legs for a 91-85 win at Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday.

Orlando had some nice execution throughout, getting plenty of points in the paint, but the team was unable to hit a shot from the perimeter. When Cleveland made that final push, Orlando could not do much to stop them. The team was caught fouling and could not secure rebounds.

The Cavaliers took three quarters but they finally broke through the Magic.

These articles come out every once in a while as the intersection of money, sports and production makes for interesting discussion.

These articles have also not been kind to the Magic since Otis Smith went on his spending binge in the summer of 2009 and it continued with the woeful trade. The Magic are still paying Gilbert Arenas.

Forbes Magazine came out with its list of the most overpaid players in the NBA, using win shares as its barometer for "overpaying" and focused mostly on Carmelo Anthony and his struggles to make statheads happy. However, the list, provided by Tom Van Riper, includes two Magic players: Hedo Turkoglu and Arron Afflalo.

He gives Turkoglu no pass for being injured for the majority of this season. In 11 games this season, Turkoglu posted a -0.5 win shares and 2.9 points per game on a salary paying him $11.8 million. Then you add on top of that his 20-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance and a broken hand in the first game of the season and you have a really bad season.

As Van Riper notes, Turkoglu's production has been declining steadily since 2008. The Magic appeared to be right when they declined to match Toronto's offer of $52.8 million for five years. In all likelihood, the Magic will buy him out of the last year of his contract and his time in the NBA will be over.

Afflalo, on the other hand, I have to disagree with. Afflalo might be getting paid a bit more than he should, but for the role the Magic needed, he produced decently well. By win shares, Afflalo has produced 2.0 win shares (on a team with just 19 wins, mind you) and a career-high 16.5 points per game.

It is a common refrain from me, from Jacque Vaughn and from everyone else. This is a year for young players to grow and learn. This is a year to make mistakes and create habits.

The habit part is probably the most important for this young squad. The one thing the Magic are guarding against in this period of losing is complacency or acceptance of losing. This is perhaps some of the reason why Orlando has kept veterans like Jameer Nelson, Glen Davis and Arron Afflalo around. These three players have kept the Magic hungry throughout the season.

And this young squad has shown that the investment has been worth it. Maybe not in the win column, but in the way the team plays. In just this past week, the Magic have shown an ability to fight and work their way back from impossible deficits. Learning to win is the next part.

Maybe the hardest part of that is winning close games. These are the games where one play unfairly gets pointed out and dissected more than any other. Many coaches, like the players they coach get judged on these plays. Vaughn is learning as much as his young players are for these late-game situations as a coach.

The final play in Friday's loss to the Bulls had a lot of observers somewhat confused. Most of that was the execution of it. The Bulls were focused on stopping Beno Udrih all fourth quarter and they did a good job containing the pick and roll. Udrih drove somewhat wildly into the lane and spun into traffic, tripping over his own feet or someone else's and turning the ball over. It was a tough way to lose a game.

So what can we learn from this play? This do-or-die play on what should have been the final play of the game.

Beno Udrih and Nate Robinson were trading body blows as the Magic and Bulls played Friday night. There was no knockout punch to deliver. Just a major whiff from the Magic and Udrih.

Orlando had the final possession, down by a point and got the ball to the guy they wanted. That would be the veteran point guard from Slovenia who scored 18 of his 27 points in the third quarter, willing the Magic back from a deficit and hitting everything within his sights.

Jimmy Butler's length and athelticism helped close that spout in the fourth quarter, but Udrih had one more chance to create. He got the inbound and ran a pick and roll with Nikola Vucevic and dribbled left toward the paint. He spun into traffic and lost his footing. It is arguable whether he was fouled.

Udrih tried to throw up a shot to get the call -- no whistle -- and the Bulls collected the rebound. Chicago was able to run out the clock as Orlando tried fruitlessly to foul, and a tired Chicago team held on for an 87-86 win at United Center on Friday.

The Bulls defense proved to be as tough as advertised, but the Magic broke through it a few times to come back and take the lead. Orlando was always willing to plug away and keep fighting.

After Udrih had his big run int he third quarter, Nate Robinson went on his run scoring 10 of his 18 points in the beginning of the fourth quarter. That helped the Bulls erase a nine-point deficit in the third quarter and gave the Bulls control over the game. Chicago took a nine-point lead as their offense finally awoke.

Things were going great for Andrew Nicholson.

His advanced post game made him a player who could instantly get inserted into the lineup and produce for the Magic. Orlando could trust him with the ball to score more often than not. It was refreshing to see from the rookie that he was able to contribute almost immediately.

Nicholson though has recently found himself buried on the roster with Tobias Harris taking over the starting power forward spot and Kyle O'Quinn pushing his way into the rotation. Nicholson even had to cede time for a while to Al Harrington in his cameo this season.

Nicholson's playing time has often been a yo-yo between ample playing time and no playing time -- between starting and sitting. It can be tough for a rookie to go through these wild swings. Even in this latter stage of the season where Orlando is playing more of its rookies, Nicholson has seen his minutes limited and he has struggled to crack the starting lineup.

"I’ll do it [find minutes for Nicholson]," Jacque Vaughn said after Nicholson did not play against the Sixers on March 10. "At one point, we had six bigs able to play and we found ways to do it. Can I promise Andrew that he is going to play every game? No. [. . .] Those promises won’t be coming from me.

"We’ll continue to practice. Guys will get opportunities to play and I’ll be fair like have been all  year and communicate with the guys. Each guy needs to be ready to play each and every night."

Since the Feb. 21 trade deadline, Andrew Nicholson is averaging 16.9 minutes per game in 18 games. That is slightly above his season average. But considering the vast amount of increased playing time for youngsters like Maurice Harkless and Kyle O'Quinn, Nicholson's increase is relatively modest.

At the end of Wednesday's loss to the Spurs, Jacque Vaughn did something a bit different. Usually he points an acknowledgement to the opposing coach at the end of games before heading off to his locker room. For his mentor, Gregg Popovich, Vaughn went down to the other end of the court and visited the Spurs' head man and gave him a hug.

There are a lot of San Antonio influences with the Magic right now. None is more visible than the approach Vaughn has taken directly from Popovich. Vaughn very much got his start in coaching from the Spurs' long-time head coach.

In analyzing and breaking down the game afterward, Vaughn acknowledged that the Spurs had the little details down necessary to win games. That comes from preparation from the "best coach in the league" according to Vaughn. There is definitely a sense of reverence for Popovich from Vaughn's side.

Popovich though was not holding back his feelings about Vaughn and where the Magic are as an organization.

The Spurs have their roles and what they need to do to win down to a science. With Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard and DeJuan Blair out tonight and Tim Duncan sitting out the second half (in what was then still a close game), San Antonio players stepped up and filled roles. No matter how many times you see it, it does not cease to impress.

One day the Magic will get there again. One day, Orlando will be like San Antonio and be able to confidently move guys around in the rotation and ask them to take on bigger roles and help them win games when key players have to sit out. The Magic are just at the beginning of that rebuilding process. The Spurs are at the apex and it did not matter who was in the game.

For the Magic, it still does. Still undermanned with injuries to many of their veterans, Jacque Vaughn experimented with a lineup featuring Andrew Nicholson, Tobias Harris and Maurice Harkless starting together for the first time. It flamed out unceremoniously int he first few minutes of the game with the Spurs racing out to a 14-5 lead.

The Magic were climbing uphill again for most of the night. Orlando fought back time and time again but never could take the lead. San Antonio had the answer each time. A 23-23 game was answered with a 7-0 run. A two-point game in the fourth quarter was answered with nine points.

Execution won out in the end as San Antonio scored a 98-84 win at AT&T Center on Wednesday.

The Magic were game to keep the game tight most of the way. The Spurs never quite put the game away until a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter. The resolve and the activity to stay in the game even when shots were not falling was strong for a young team.

The Magic are unabashedly following the Spurs and Thunder model for rebuilding their organization. Several members of the Magic organization came directly from the Spurs and their family tree, including head coach Jacque Vaughn. So there will now, at least with this management in place, be a tie between the Magic and the perennially successful Spurs.

As things stand today, Orlando is at the beginning of the rebuild. So the hope of matching San Antonio on the court on a nightly basis is not going to happen (yet). Ther eis a big gap between the Spurs and the Magic.

But, like the Thunder, the Magic get their up-close look at the team they are trying to model and it feels like a family reunion of sorts. There is a long way to go before the Magic can sit at the adult table. We will just have to see whether Rob Hennigan can get those Spurs roots to plant.

With the Magic finishing off their season series with the Spurs tonight, Project Spurs reached out to me to do a quick gameday preview. They returned the favor with Project Spurs' Jose Grijalva answering a few of my questions ahead of the game this evening:

Philip Rossman-Reich, Orlando Magic Daily: It always seems like when the Spurs have an injury to one of their key players, someone is always there to step up. What is it about the way Gregg Popovich prepares his team and the way the team identifies players that enables them to always do this?

Jose Grijalva, Project Spurs: The system is what gives the players a chance, especially this season. This team is so versatile with various players being able to handle the ball, shoot the long ball, and pass it to open teammates. With almost every player on the main rotation being able to do these three things, it helps exploit a match that's in their favor and it's easy with a team with no egos getting in the way. The best example was the game against the Miami Heat when Pop sent the stars home and the role players played the same way they would have (role wise) without the superstars.

Nikola Vucevic has emerged as a quality player in the NBA in his second year. He is among the league leaders in double doubles and rebounds and has done wonders with the playing time and the opportunity given to him from this rebuilding Magic team.

Vucevic is averaging 12.5 points per game and 12.6 rebounds per game and has seen an increase from his rookie year in his per 36 minute numbers. Vucevic has climbed into the Most Improved Player conversation with his ability to work around the basket and his rebounding ability.

"One thing about Nik is he is very consistent," Vucevic's former coach in Philadelphia, Doug Collins, said on March 10. "That’s what you want from a player. Basically, every night you know what you’re going to get from him. I’m very proud of him. He has worked hard. I f you charted him in college, every year he got better. I think he is going to do the same thing as an NBA player. The big thing is just stay healthy."

His consistency has been well noted and Collins said he recognized Vucevic's skill early on in the Draft process. His playing time was cut as Vucevic struggled to get back from a knee injury in the middle of last season. Even in the Playoffs when he was theoretically healthy to play. There was some measure of frustration that the rookie was on the bench late int he season from the always fickle Philadelphia fans.

Still, Collins said Vucevic is the kind of player that could be putting up double doubles in this league for a long time to come.

It is clear too though that Vucevic has areas he needs to improve. He told Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel that he plans on spending his summer improving his strength, working on his post moves and getting some big-game experience playing for Montenegro at EuroBasket.