ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic find themselves in the unfamiliar, but welcome, position of challenging for a playoff berth late in a season. The Magic, who own a 30-36 record, trail the eighth-place Miami Heat by one game in the Eastern Conference standings.



On Thursday afternoon, The Athletic caught up with Jeff Weltman, the Magic’s president of basketball operations.



During a 30-minute interview in Weltman’s Amway Center office, he fielded questions about the season so far, the growth of several of the team’s young players and the player he traded for at the deadline, point guard Markelle Fultz.



What do you view as the team’s biggest strengths?



Honestly, I don’t look at it that way. I know that we’re striving to be excellent in a lot of areas, and I think we’re making progress. But I would say the character of our people. I think that organizationally we’re together, and we all understand...