Here's the next installment of our team-by-team season preview series on the Orlando Magic.

2014-15 Record: 25-57

Notable Acquisitions: CJ Watson (FA), Mario Hezonja (Draft), Shabazz Napier (Trade)

Notable Departures: Mo Harkless, Kyle O’Quinn, Luke Ridnour

Temperature Check:

Thrust into teardown mode after Dwight Howard’s departure, the Magic haven't seen any success despite a promising collection of youth. Hoping to accelerate their rebuild, the Magic brought in veteran coach Scott Skiles with the hopes he can whip the team’s defense into shape and put the team back in the playoff picture.

Inside the Playbook:

Since entering the coaching ranks, Scott Skiles has been synonymous with defense. Every team he has coached is known from a disciplined, unrelenting approach to that end of the floor. But to categorize Skiles as a one trick pony would be doing him a disservice.

While his teams have never blown the doors off anyone offensively, it’s been more because of limited talented than the way Skiles approaches that end of the floor. In fact, and this seems strange to say, the way his team’s play offense is actually aesthetically pleasing.

One thing that really stands out when watching a Skiles team execute offensively is their side-to-side ball movement. And in Orlando, you can already see his influence on the team’s offensive approach:

The Magic won’t be confused with the Spurs anytime soon, but you can see the impact this back-and-forth attack can have. In the above possession, the ball starts out with Shabazz Napier dribbling to the middle of the floor before being it’s thrown back to a popping Channing Frye. From there it goes from Frye to Devyn Marble on the right wing, to Evan Fournier back to Napier on the left wing. Any offensive possession where four players touch it among nearly two full ball reversals across the perimeter is bound to end in success.

Combined with the Magic’s superior offensive talent (compared to Skiles previous teams, that is), this type of approach could perhaps be a springboard for big things on that end of the floor. And if Orlando cracks the top 10 on both ends of the floor, it’ll probably be time to stop labeling Skiles as just a defensive coach.

Lineup to Watch:

The Shabazz Napier led units

After a ho-hum rookie season with the Heat, Napier's production was more on par with a future D-League player than a reliable NBA contributor. But the thing about savvy young cats like Napier is that they just tend to figure things out. So far this preseason, it seems like that’s exactly what’s happening with the former first round pick.

Over the past five games of the Magic’s regular season tune up schedule, Napier was a monster, shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 63.2 percent from 3. Now obviously, preseason numbers like that aren’t ironclad proof Napier is going to become a future All-Star, but they are certainly very promising.

And from a subjective standpoint, Napier has always shown the basketball I.Q. to be a very steady court general (something his new head coach will appreciate). But during his first season, he simply lacked the skills to go with it. If his shooting has really turned a corner, Napier could possibly be one of the league’s plus/minus darlings, coming off the bench to post higher on/off court splits than the guys in front of him and generally making the lineups he plays with better.

The Wildcard:

Tobias Harris

It’s certainly rare for a team’s highest paid player to be featured in one of these “wildcard” sections. After all, the players with the biggest deals typically are earned those contracts because of the consistency of their production. But Harris, a restricted free agent this past offseason, is a little different.

There’s a lot of things about Harris’ game that people still aren’t sure of. The top one being his true position -- small or power forward. According to 82games.com, Harris was noticeably better as a 4 (19.1 PER) than as a 3 (16.0). With the versatile Aaron Gordon around to create something of an ambiguous frontcourt where the two players can swap assignments on the defensive end, it’s not as big of an issue for the Magic as it would be for other teams.

But it’s still going to be interesting to see how Harris operates under his new head coach. Regardless of which position Skiles utilizes him at, Harris’ key knock has always been his defense, something that is obviously very important to Skiles. And while Harris won’t likely be banished from the rotation, his performance on that end of the floor could dictate when, how much and where he’s played -- something that makes it hard to know what exactly this Orlando team will get from their most well-compensated player.

Coach’s Question:

Will Scott Skiles be more consistent with his rotations?

Part of the reason Skiles has a reputation for burning his team’s out after a handful of season is the way he handles his rotation. Instead of settling on a consistent game-to-game core, any number of players can see their minutes cut or expanded without warning, typically due to perceived defensive limitations. From a player’s standpoint, especially for one coming off the bench, it’s tough to be productive when your windows for playing time are short and choppy.

During his last stint with Milwaukee, the rotations from Skiles almost seemed like minutes were distributed by a random number generator. It’s almost as if a deep (young) team is the worst thing for a coach like Skiles to have, as he has more options to choose from if things aren’t going the way he likes on the court.

There’s no denying that Skiles has gotten the most of out of some very limited teams and created a real sense of defensive accountability with this approach, but it also clashes with the best approach to long term development: consistent minutes. So while the Magic are trying to start winning now, they are still have several players that need to play consistently in order to develop. It’ll be interesting to see how Skiles balances his approach with one that’s best for the future of the team.

Best Case Scenario:

46-36 If…

Skiles works his magic on the defensive end of the floor. Hezonja contends for Rookie of the Year while one of Oladipo, Payton or Gordon takes a massive step forward. Vucevic cements his place among the top centers in the league.

Worst Case Scenario:

39-43 If....

The frontcourt personnel prove incapable of providing a solid foundation for Skiles’ defensive system. Payton and Oladipo start showing signs of being a poor fit together. There’s a teamwide struggle to find outside shooting and the rotation carousel by Skiles causes inconsistent performances from the young players who need regular minutes to develop.

Click here for a full list of NBA Season Previews from Brett Koremenos.