The NBA is a business first and foremost.
Players know that and understand they are always on the proverbial hot seat due to the ever-changing nature of the league. In a lot of cases, those players must prove and re-prove themselves to their respective organizations each year.
Especially for rebuilding teams searching for their player to build around, player roles can be changed quickly. And this year’s shiny new toy becomes the latest what-have-you-done-for-me-lately disappointment.
Every step back for a young team especially can feel like the ground giving way. There are always players fighting for attention.
Looking ahead to next season certain Orlando Magic players will need a resurgence as they look to be a part of the team’s future and revive their own careers.
In the Orlando Magic’s case, the players looking to turn things around include much of their young core who have not quite lived up to expectations because of injuries or even inexperience. Players like Jonathan Isaac, Jalen Suggs and Markelle Fultz are looking to prove themselves after coming off serious injuries. And they know that there is intense competition on this young roster to cement their place in the team’s future.
Magic fans hope they can or else it will mean another setback in the rebuild.
For those players, they need to bounce back to keep good standing with the team. They are fighting for playing time, a new contract, and trust to stay vital part of the Magic’s plan.
At the end of the day, nobody is rooting harder for these players to turn it around than the Orlando Magic.
But if they do not they could find themselves moving on elsewhere like veteran Terrence Ross seems set to.
Guys like Ross want to prove that they still have something left in the tank even if they will not be a part of the team’s future.
The Magic are aware he wants to move on and they will shop him to playoff teams.
Sadly we will not have many answers until next year but even in the early part of the offseason, the stage is set.
The 2023 season will be used a ton for figuring out which young players fit into the Magic’s future. And a lot of that will have to be proven with what goes on the court in the end.
4 Orlando Magic players in need of a career resurgence
Markelle Fultz
It seems like Markelle Fultz has been in need of a resurgence since he was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers back in 2017.
The former Washington guard is already entering his sixth year in the NBA but this is more like his second full season in the league after injuries kept him from playing his first three seasons in Philadelphia and a torn ACL kept him out for most of the shortened 2021 season.
It is hard to believe that this summer might be Fultz’s first fully healthy summer without COVID restrictions in place. There is still some optimism he can reach some of the heights his top overall pick promised because he will only be 24 years old by the start of next season.
Fultz did not return from his torn ACL until after the All-Star Break, nearly 14 months after his initial injury in January 2021. The Magic decided to bring him back slowly as he played in 18 total games and started just 3 of those games.
Fultz is not just overcoming his ACL tear from last year though, he will need also need to prove to the organization that he can take the next step.
Thoracic outlet syndrome gave him trouble with his shooting form back when he was with the 76ers. And it is still a condition he is managing and playing through. He has certainly rehabbed enough to be comfortable out on the floor again.
But his shooting percentages are still subpar for today’s standards but they are right in the range of the other young Magic guards at 47-percent from the field and 24-percent from three (he will take threes, but this is obviously not his game for the moment).
On the bright side, last year was not a real indication of what Fultz can really be.
He was put on a minutes restriction and averaged exactly 20 minutes per game.
He averaged 10.8 points per game and gave the team a boost of energy with his speed and playmaking. Fultz gave Magic fans a lot to be excited about.
But he will need to figure out how to play with other young guards Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs when his minutes are increased. He rarely played with either player as the Magic largely let him run the second unit and injuries kept Suggs from joining the lineup much while Fultz played.
Anthony has missed some time with injuries and Suggs just had offseason ankle surgery but they are younger and will be on a longer leash.
Fultz has now had his season back from the injury so next year the Magic will have higher expectations for him. He will hope to pick up where he left off before the ACL injury.
It would not be ridiculous to expect Fultz to take the reigns as their number one point guard.
But he is in a tricky position if he cannot make that jump.
He is under contract for the next two seasons through 2024. If he does not show any signs of becoming the player he was supposed to be then the Magic might move off of him in the future.
And if they select another guard in this upcoming draft then he could be out sooner than later if he does not somewhat produce.
At a certain point if he does not take the next step he would only be clogging the depth chart and preventing the younger guys from developing.
The pressure is certainly on for Fultz.
4 Orlando Magic players in need of a career resurgence
Jonathan Isaac
Jonathan Isaac has been out of sight and out of mind for most NBA fans since he suffered an ACL tear back in 2020 in the bubble.
But Orlando Magic fans cannot wait to see their highest-paid player back on the court.
Jonathan Isaac, just like Markelle Fultz, has struggled to stay healthy and his progress has been hindered by nagging injuries. One of which includes a minor hamstring surgery during his ACL rehab.
In his first three years, Isaac averaged about 45 games played per year. His only healthy season came back in 2019 when he played 75 games and he has only played 136 games in his four years in the NBA.
In the season before he got hurt, he showed glimpses of the type of player he could really be.
During that 2020 season, Isaac was a defensive force averaging 2.3 blocks per game and 1.6 steals per game. He also improved across the board in points, rebounds and assists per game from the previous season.
Isaac can be the anchor for the Magic, especially on defense where he has All-Defensive team potential But showing promise is not enough anymore.
Next year he will have to prove he can play with Wendell Carter, a player on the Magic who has actually stepped up and shown they can produce on the court.
Jonathan Isaac will also be subject to the same scrutiny and watchful eye that Mo Bamba was under this past year. AND Isaac must build chemistry with Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner, all players he has not played a single game with.
If Isaac cannot click almost immediately or suffers another injury setback, that could spell doom for the once-prized 24-year-old.
4 Orlando Magic players in need of a career resurgence
Terrence Ross
Terrence Ross is a fan favorite, but he requested a trade after this past season. Everyone seems to understand why after the veteran guard struggled to fit in with a young roster.
At times last year, he was fazed out of the rotation completely and has been shopped around at the deadline in the past two seasons.
This is because Ross is not a part of the Magic’s future.
He had a down year last season dealing with a decrease in minutes and first-year coach Jamahl Mosley giving opportunities to the younger players.
On the flip side, his playstyle might be something more of a luxury item that suits winning teams rather than teams rebuilding like the Magic.
Even though it was not exactly an audition year for Ross, his services off the bench will still be wanted around the league. Ross is a dynamic scorer coming off the bench who can handle the rock and play off the ball.
And even if he is not an elite defender and you probably will not want to relegate him to catch and shoot status, Ross can surely lead the second unit at times throughout the game.
He will also fit into a championship locker room considering the leadership and professionalism he has shown in his career.
Teams interested at last year’s deadline were the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz among other contending squads.
He will pretty much garner interest from any playoff team considering his trade value should be pretty low at this point having demanded a trade and having been shopped around for two years already. Orlando certainly may have to come off the insistence of getting a first-round pick to move him at this point.
Next year Ross will most likely find himself in a different jersey and will hopefully feel rejuvenated on a more competitive team.
4 Orlando Magic players in need of a career resurgence
Jalen Suggs
Jalen Suggs!?
Is it too early to hit the panic button on Jalen Suggs? Yes.
BUT… last year was a learning experience and he will have to make sure injuries do not make him fall behind the curve like it has for other young Orlando Magic players.
In his rookie year, Suggs dealt with a fractured right thumb and an ankle injury that made him sit out 34 games.
In the penultimate game of the season against the Charlotte Hornets, he pulled up limping on the same sprained ankle that he missed time with.
On May 2, the Magic announced Suggs underwent ankle surgery to repair a stress fracture. It is unclear whether he re-aggravated it in that game against the Hornets or if it was something unrelated.
He will probably have to miss the summer league but that is still to be determined. The good news for Magic fans is that he will be ready in time for training camp.
That is good news for Suggs too. He will need to get back on the court as soon as possible to improve on his play from last year.
Suggs will want to improve on his shooting splits from last year as he shot a poor 36-percent from the field and 21-percent from three.
A bright spot for Suggs is he is in the same boat as other young guards, Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony who did not shoot well last year either.
The guard who separates himself in that area will come out on top.
Suggs certainly has the potential to lead the Magic for years to come. But his lackluster rookie season has him overshadowed by his fellow draft classmate, Franz Wagner.
He will need to overcome persistent injuries and shooting deficiencies to prove himself worthy of that fifth overall pick.