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Orlando Magic’s projected space… it isn’t much

By Philip Rossman-Reich

ORLANDO, FL - JUNE 22: Orlando Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman addresses the media during the 2017 NBA Draft on June 22, 2017 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - JUNE 22: Orlando Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman addresses the media during the 2017 NBA Draft on June 22, 2017 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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As the Orlando Magic prepare for a summer that will surely see some changes to the roster, they will not have much cap room to spend.

The buyout market in the NBA is pretty much closed. The Playoff rosters around the league are pretty much set. Everyone is gearing up for the stretch run.

The final 13 games will bring Playoff glory to 16 teams and an eye on the ping pong balls for 14 others.

The Orlando Magic know which group they will be in. They have been eyeing the NBA Draft Lottery for some time now. And there is an almost daily watch of the standings.

Everyone surrounding the Magic recognizes change is coming. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman admitted as much when he traded Elfrid Payton. He said on that day it did not make sense for the Magic to commit money to a group that was not working anymore (if it ever did).

The Magic were trying to preserve some financial flexibility for the summer.

The reality though is the Magic do not have a ton of cap space to spend. The NBA’s salary cap is starting to flatten out. There will be no dramatic increase in money available. All those contracts the teams around the league handed out the last two years are finally coming to roost.

Precious few teams are expected to have cap space this summer. The Magic are not one of them.

That is perhaps one of the most disheartening things about the Magic’s current situation. They are bad. And bad full of young veterans and long contracts. They do not have the financial flexibility to help take on bad contracts to flip over the roster or go out in free agency and find the players they want there.

Filling out needs is going to take some time. And a bit of patience. Or some tricky financial calculus in the trade market. The Magic have a lot of work to do.

This summer may not be the one to do it.

Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic /

Orlando Magic

According to Keith Smith of Real GM, the Magic are projected to be roughly $19 million under the $101 million salary cap. That is actually the same amount of cap space (or lack thereof) they will start the offseason with.

Realistically, the Magic have $78.1 million guaranteed for next year already, according to Basketball Insiders’ salary database. They still have non-guaranteed contracts in Shelvin Mack (just $1 million of his $6 million is guaranteed for next year) and Khem Birch (a minimum deal for a rookie).

And this total does not include the cap holds for Mario Hezonja and Aaron Gordon. In all likelihood, the majority of that $19-million-plus of cap room will go to Aaron Gordon’s contract. That will leave Orlando with precious little room to sign new players. Orlando then has to use some space to sign its first-round pick — there is an exception that allows them to go over the cap to do this.

Add it all up, and the Magic do not have a lot of space to maneuver this summer. Orlando was not able to do much at the deadline to clear some space. Trading Payton merely erased his cap hold and the minimally onerous restriction it puts on them to wait to resolve their unrestricted free agent first.

Orlando can go over the cap to sign Gordon this summer because they hold his Bird Rights. So Orlando has $19 million in realistic cap room but Gordon’s cap hold on its own will eat up most of that space — $16.5 million according to Eric Pincus’ salary database on Basketball Insiders.

As the Magic begin to assess how to change things up this summer, this is where it all starts. Orlando will have to deal with Gordon’s free agency first. And that will likely eat up whatever cap space they have.

In free agency, they will only really have the nontaxpayer mid-level exception (roughly $8 million) to use to add new players.

The task ahead of Weltman then is a complex one. It means most of the Magic’s activity will come in the trade market. And that will make it hard to get back equal value. Or create much more flexibility.

Next: Orlando Magic face existential dread of lost season

As this season comes to an end and the offseason begins to come into focus, the Magic’s path forward is a bit easier to see. But still, a difficult one to walk.