With the NBA trade deadline fast approaching and the Orlando Magic currently struggling, the front office will be pondering whether to make any moves. Two teams are clear partners with interest.
The Orlando Magic have opted for familiarity these past few seasons. The team’s core of Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic ensured a return to the postseason after six years out of the playoffs and the additions of Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac have added hope for the future.
But injuries have decimated the roster this year, dramatically decreasing the chances of making a third straight postseason.
The Magic retain hopes of at least making the play-in tournament come the end of the regular season but with the injuries showing no signs of easing up, the draft lottery has become a real possibility.
Orlando has a choice to make this year. Stick with the current core and hope the returns of Fultz and Isaac next season along with the development of the young players allows them to mount more of a challenge, or instead start moving on from the existing core to create a different team via the trade market.
Familiarity has been the key to the Magic’s limited success but the team cannot escape the inevitable change that is coming. The decision the front office must make is whether to let change happen naturally or actively pursue opportunities in the trade market to bring it about sooner.
If they opt for the latter, two trade partners that make sense for the Orlando Magic are the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets. Both have superstar talents in Nikola Jokic at Denver and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown at Boston but could also use some extra firepower to boost their chances of contending for the title.
Here is how trading with the two might work:
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics have enjoyed a fairly underwhelming start to the NBA season. Like most teams, they have had to battle COVID-19 issues but will likely still finish in the top five of the Eastern Conference.
While Jaylen Brown’s incredible leap and Jayson Tatum’s continued excellence already gives the team a great chance of making a deep playoff run, it still feels as though they are one piece away from seriously contending for the title.
Kemba Walker has not looked himself for most of this season, averaging 16.3 points per game and shooting at a rate of just 36.3-percent. There is still plenty of time for him to get back to his best but regardless of whether or not he does, the Celtics adding another talent could cement the team’s place as a serious contender.
Boston has a monster $28.5-million trade exception created from the sign-and-trade deal which sent Gordon Hayward to the Charlotte Hornets. The team’s general manager, Danny Ainge, has already expressed his desire to add “shooting with size” and it would be unsurprising to see the Celtics do some activity before the trade market closes.
If shooting with size is the target, the Orlando Magic have an incredible shooting big man in Nikola Vucevic that could appeal to Ainge.
Boston Celtics
Nikola Vucevic has been playing at an All-Star level this season, averaging 24 points per game, and has put an injury-hit Magic team on his back with some incredible performances. The Orlando Magic have won two of the last five games, against the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings, with the center scoring a career-high 43 and then 42 to drag his team to victory.
The Orlando Magic’s center has had to play some serious minutes in recent games, including 41 in the defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers. Injuries to key players like Jonathan Isaac, Markelle Fultz, Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier and even rookie Cole Anthony have left Nikola Vucevic with little support. He is single-handedly keeping his team in the hunt for a play-in spot.
The Magic know how important Vucevic is. Trading him away would likely put the team in contention for the league’s worst record this year and presents a huge risk, given he is the team’s first All-Star since Dwight Howard left, and looks in line for a second trip in three years.
Boston would not give back anyone who can do what Vucevic is doing at this moment. But the Celtics have some tempting assets that could be acquired.
Marcus Smart is an elite perimeter defender with the ability to contribute on offense too. The Celtics will not want to lose him, but he simply has to be part of any deal for Vucevic even if he is currently sidelined with a calf injury.
Tatum and Brown are off the table completely but there is an opportunity to acquire a young talent like Aaron Nesmith, who may have made a slow start to his NBA career but was an elite shooter at the college level, and Robert Williams who has shown promise at the center position with his efficiency and ability to protect the rim.
Other options include Payton Pritchard and Grant Williams. A combination of these young talents with Smart and possibly another veteran like Daniel Theis or Tristan Thompson along with draft picks and the Magic are getting back some good assets for the future.
The other direction would be to try and acquire Kemba Walker.
But given his recent injury history and huge $34.3-million salary combined with the fact that Orlando has two exciting young point guards in Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony, this makes as much sense as limiting Mohamed Bamba’s playing time when he is one of the only healthy players remaining.
Trading Vucevic would signal at least a small rebuild for the Magic. Keeping him around and pairing him with a healthy Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac next season is an enticing prospect but for Boston, Vucevic could be the missing piece needed to make the finals.
Another player the Magic has to offer the Celtics is Aaron Gordon. His shooting had improved before his injury but he does not exactly fit the “shooting with size” description Ainge is interested in.
What Gordon does offer though is excellent defense combined with the ability to score. He would allow Boston to play small with Brown and Tatum at the wing positions while establishing one of the best perimeter defences in the league.
The return for Gordon would not be as high as Vucevic but Orlando should at least try for Smart and a young prospect or future draft pick if they want to reach a deal to send him to the Celtics.
Boston cannot offer immediate equal value for either Vucevic or Gordon but could allow the Magic to head towards more of a reset or rebuild should the team’s strategy switch from trying to make the playoffs this year.
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are another team that has started slower than many expected. Nikola Jokic is establishing himself as a serious MVP candidate but Jamal Murray has been inconsistent and Will Barton and Paul Millsap’s scoring have both dipped this year.
The Nuggets made the Conference Finals last season and will want to build on this success, especially given just how well Jokic is playing. They could certainly do with adding and improving to the players around Jokic and Murray if they are to at least match last year’s postseason performance and the Magic have the players to help them do just that.
An obvious candidate that could help Denver is Aaron Gordon. The power forward would be an upgrade on Millsap at the four spot, given the level of defense he was playing before his current injury. Gordon is shooting an improved 36.9 percent from behind the arc and would thrive cutting to the basket off Jokic’s outstanding passing.
But would it be worth it for the Magic?
Sending Gordon to Denver would mean Orlando having to take one of Gary Harris or Will Barton back in return to match contracts. Harris earns slightly more than Gordon but Barton would require the Nuggets to send other assets back too.
While neither of these players would be particularly exciting additions or be able to do what Aaron Gordon does, it does present an opportunity for Orlando to build more around Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac, who the front office has committed to as the future of the team.
Denver Nuggets
Let’s say Denver is willing to use Barton as the main part of the deal. The Magic could then try and acquire someone like R.J. Hampton, a young and exciting guard with tremendous pace and explosiveness who has started to make his mark in the league in recent games.
They could even try for Bol Bol, who has shown glimpses of being a real offensive talent but still has a ton of development to do having scarcely been used this season. There is also the potential to acquire picks, even if they would fall low in the first round.
Another player that could benefit Denver is Evan Fournier, who played for the franchise at the start of his career.
Fournier has struggled with injuries this year and while his three-point percentage has taken a slight dip, he still offers a big threat from the perimeter. Fournier’s contract expires at the end of this season so Orlando could move him on to try and at least get something back before his possible exit.
If Fournier does leave, the team will not be receiving immediate equal value in return given Fournier’s ability to shoot the ball. Denver would also be unlikely to want to give up a prospect for a player out of contract so soon.
The Magic could take Gary Harris back in return to at least fill a wing spot for next season. But his career has dipped since a solid 2017 and he has not shown any signs of getting back to that level. They could also try for Will Barton, who like Harris would free up salary space next season for Denver given that he has a player option.
But from Orlando’s perspective, the front office would have to feel confident that either player would complement what the team already has.
Trading will require sacrifice
If the Orlando Magic do decide to trade away some of their main assets before the deadline, it will signal a move toward the future which likely means accepting that the team will not make a third straight postseason this year.
It comes with considerable risk. Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier are all talented players and there is no guarantee that what the team gets back in young players and picks will turn out to be as good as its existing core.
But with risk can come reward. Injuries are the main reason for the team’s struggles this year and have also impacted the team’s playoff performances in the last two years.
We have yet to see what a starting five of Markelle Fultz, Evan Fournier, Jonathan Isaac, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic can properly do. But with Fournier’s contract expiring at the end of this year, Gordon having another year left on his contract and big commitments having been made to Fultz and Isaac, there is no getting away from the impending change on the horizon.
Now it is for those in charge to decide how much should be changed and how soon it will happen.
If the trade market is to be utilised, Boston and Denver are two teams that make sense as potential trade partners. The Magic are unlikely to receive equal value, but that is a sacrifice the team will have to accept.