A Look into the Orlando Magic Offseason
Orlando's season ended poorly, but their campaign was a huge success overall. Even though they were the second-youngest team in the playoffs, the Magic battled well with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Paolo Banchero and company have such a promising future, so the team must get the most out of this summer. The Magic is one of the few playoff teams with plenty of salary room and trade pieces to make a big improvement.
This season, the Magic, the third under head coach Jamahl Mosley, turned into an overwhelming defensive force and finished the regular season as the second-best defensive club in the league. That says volumes about the team's overall potential, considering they only have one player over thirty. Most people will focus on Paolo Banchero's play, the Rookie of the Year who was selected to his first all-star team this season, but Jalen Suggs' development may be the biggest story. The third-year guard's professional career didn't get off to the ideal start; he struggled offensively in his first two seasons and was sometimes a liability on the floor. Suggs, however, took a different approach this season. He switched to become a three-and-D two-guard rather than attempting to become a versatile point guard. Working off the playmaking of Franz Wagner and Banchero, he significantly improved from his 69.4% 3-point shooting average over his first two seasons to 39.7%, with 85% of those baskets coming off assists.
Offseason Needs
A true point guard with three-point ability. Though it seems like Orlando has selected half of the guard pool in recent years, they haven't produced a breakout star yet. This summer, the Magic will need to search far and wide for a leader who can manage the ship in addition to Banchero and who will also play a significant amount of ball. The guard they locate needs to be a prolific 3-point shooter. Do they possess the resources Trae Young needs? That is yet to be determined, but he seems like the player they seek. They could also go the route of chasing a guard who can shoot, like Malik Monk or Klay Thompson as well. More spacing for Banchero and Wagner is a must to take their team to the next level.
Orlando's goals for next year are fairly obvious: improve even more to advance farther in the postseason. Orlando has no intention of turning around and becoming more submissive, not come the end of this year. The Magic are moving toward their identity, Banchero, and the notion of creating something enduring. Magicians should be thrilled for several reasons.
