Who is the Orlando Magic's Biggest X-Factor?

After throwing the same expected changeups down the middle of the strike zone year after year, The Orlando Magic are finally throwing a few curveballs at the rest of the league.

Orlando is somehow rolling back its perennial Top-4 defensive unit while addressing and improving every aspect of their offense across the board.

Defense travels; this Magic team's identity will still be built on outhustling you on the margins, forcing turnovers by diving for loose balls, outworking you on the glass. Converting on the other end will be the biggest make or break factor for how far this team can go in the games that matter most.

Coaches expect players to be ready at any moment.
Players expect themselves to rise to the occasion.
Fans expect this team to compete for a title.

With such lofty team goals, expectations rise with the tide.

Which Magic player will surprise the public most with a breakout season?

Two healthy All-Stars with All-NBA aspirations. (Franz & Paolo)
Two knockdown 3pt snipers, one via a massive trade (Bane), one returning from injury (Suggs)
Two rookies looking to make an immediate impact on a playoff contender (Jase & Penda)
One new backup point guard who steadies the ship in every sea he steers through (Tyus)
Four reliable, complementary big men returning (Wendell, Isaac, Goga, Wagner)
Three young prospects with something to prove and a bigger role to prove it (Black, Da Silva, Jett)

Most national media folks have circled the name Anthony Black as the team's biggest X-factor, due to his defensive instincts and scalable point-forwardy game that translates to winning in any situation.

Last year the team's win-loss splits were clearly linked to Black's scoring output swings – Ant scored 11 PPG on 58% TS% in 39 Magic Wins compared to just 8 PPG on 46% TS% in 39 Magic losses

Orlando's big moves to rectify the offense, spacing, and halfcourt orchestration this summer looks to address this predicament so the team's success is not as dependent on any one individual scoring output; there's much more of a group effort to step up and share the load, let's just say, by committee.