The buzz is still humming off the Orlando Magic’s surprise pick of Jalen Suggs with the fifth overall pick. The team and its fans certainly feel like they have their future star in the making with Suggs. And adding a quality and dependable wing in Franz Wagner with the eighth pick suddenly seems to set the Magic’s future a lot more solidly.
The team is still extremely young. The Magic will have a lot of growing to do. But it finally feels like the team has a pathway to be good and a ceiling that feels a whole lot higher.
There will be plenty of work to do to improve the roster. And while there is a ton of optimism about the Magic today, the roster is still far from complete. Players are far from their finished products.
What is becoming clear is the Magic have shifted their roster dramatically in the last few months. Suddenly the team is full of dynamic athletes and some fairly consistent scorers. They have acknowledged their shooting shortcomings and seemed to have found some players who can help in that department.
What the Magic roster looks like now is a much more modern team, filled with bouncy scoring guards who can play at a high pace and versatile forwards who can defend and play the perimeter. The Magic’s draft proved to be foundational in the potential star it landed but also in setting the tone for the kind of roster the Magic want to build.
The Orlando Magic roster suddenly feels much more modern with dynamic attackers on the wings and at least the notion they can shoot well. But the team still has work to do to clean up its depth chart.
There is still clearly work to do, however.
This is just the first step in this journey. The Magic have added some high-level players to their team with the hopes of seeing those players guide the team back into playoff contention.
President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman again is not putting a timeline on his team’s development. He is not going to force expectations onto this group as they begin to grow. He knows while it is a day to celebrate Suggs and Wagner’s arrival in Orlando, there is still a roster to build.
That, in itself, may yet be a multiyear process. As talented as the Magic are, they still remain very young. There will surely be moves to make as the Magic identify the players who can truly help them win and what players they still need to acquire to complete the team for this upcoming season and beyond.
It is probably good to start with an updated look at the roster:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Markelle Fultz | Jalen Suggs | Chuma Okeke | Jonathan Isaac | Wendell Carter |
| Cole Anthony | Gary Harris | Terrence Ross | Franz Wagner | Mohamed Bamba |
| Michael Carter-Williams | R.J. Hampton | Dwayne Bacon |
Free Agents: James Ennis, Moritz Wagner
What is really clear from here is the Magic are now extremely guard-heavy. The team can platoon Chuma Okeke, Jonathan Isaac and Franz Wagner to fill out the power forward minutes — all three should be able to play both forward positions.
With the report R.J. Hampton has grown to 6-foot-7, there is the chance the Magic would be more open to playing him full-time as a wing at the 2 or 3 rather than at point guard, where many thought he would play coming out into the draft last year.
Orlando has plenty of hybrid point guards too.
Markelle Fultz is the most natural playmaker of the bunch. Suggs has point guard abilities but was effective playing alongside another more natural point guard in college with Andrew Nembhard. Cole Anthony is a natural scorer who showed improvement in managing and running a team as the season went on.
The team should have a number of different lineups it can throw out through the course of the season. But there is a clear logjam forming among the team’s backcourt and a dearth of options in the frontcourt.
Orlando is likely going to try to hang onto all the young players it can for now. Unless a killer deal comes across their desk, the team is going to see what these young players can do.
Hanging over a lot of this is the status for Isaac and Fultz.
Isaac tore his ACL in August last year during the bubble. It is expected he will be back for the start of training camp and the season. But everyone remains to play coy about his return:
"It's getting better. I feel good."
— Luke Hetrick (@LHSportsTV) July 30, 2021
Good catching up with @JJudahIsaac today. He does not have a return timeline but is positive as always. @SpecSports360 pic.twitter.com/1cZ4TwSAey
Fultz tore his ACL in January. He should be near his return by the time training camp begins. Magic general manager John Hammond said on In The Zone on 96.9 The Game in Orlando the team is hopeful Fultz will be ready to play at the beginning of camp or shortly after the season starts, a rare admission of some timeline for either player’s return.
How quickly the Magic look to move and shift their loaded backcourt likely depends at least a bit on Fultz’s return.
So, the Magic’s main focus in completing this year’s roster should be on acquiring some front-court help — and certainly someone who can play center considering the injury issues that both Wendell Carter and Mohamed Bamba have had in their young careers.
Orlando’s full roster — 13 players under contract including the team’s rookies and Dwayne Bacon, whose contract becomes fully guaranteed on August 9 — would suggest the Magic will turn to the trade market to get a little relief and consolidate playing time at one position or add players to the roster.
The trade path — especially with Terrence Ross, who has a growing market surrounding him — is the likeliest path for the Magic to make some significant moves this offseason.
The team currently has $93.7 million in guaranteed salary for next year. Their two draft picks are slated to take up roughly $9.7 million.
Before cap holds, the Magic have $103.4 million committed to next season’s roster, leaving them a bit less than $8-9 million to spend in free agency this offseason, depending on what they do with several long-term cap holds still on their books.
It is not a lot of money to do much — and the Magic have cap room to preserve for next offseason, if they want it. A trade would work to alleviate a lot of the issues the Magic might still have to clean up their depth chart.
The Magic are surely not done this offseason in adding new players. But the team has a completely new look. That much is clear.
Orlando is loaded with these dynamic guards and has a clear vision for how they want to play. Even their centers in Wendell Carter and Mohamed Bamba are at least theoretically capable of playing with versatility defensively. The team should feel good about its rim protection with the forwards it has in Isaac, Carter, Bamba and Wagner.
The roster still needs some tweaking. But the Magic should feel like they have the start to do with this group of players and begin rebuilding again.