In the NBA, you can typically figure out which teams will compete for the championship, which players will be good, and which matchups to circle on your calendar.
Even with all of the movement that happens in free agency, a part of the NBA seems fairly predictable.
But while that may seem like the case — and certainly it is to an extent — there is a healthy dose of surprises every year. The league is about the journey more than the destination and there are always pleasant surprises along the way.
Every season presents surprises. The Orlando Magic are a team that could be full of them as this young team brings everyone back and tries to take that important step toward winning.
Last year, for example, the NBA presented plenty of eyebrow-raising storylines.
The championship favorites, Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers, did not win a single playoff game. The Lakers did not even make the Playoffs at all. DeMar DeRozan was in the MVP race at one point after signing with the Chicago Bulls. And the Boston Celtics transformed into a championship-level team in January.
When you look at it, every team had surprises last year, including the Orlando Magic. They saw Wendell Carter blossom into their best player last year.
So looking forward to next year now that Summer League has concluded, who can be the surprise player for Magic, just as Carter was?
Well there are some things to consider. Part of it comes down to opportunity and how they played last season under coach Jamahl Mosley.
Carter had played well in the second part of the 2021 season after he was traded from the Bulls and Mosley gave him an even bigger role last season.
But while those factors help when it comes to predicting a player’s future, it really comes down to how much work they have put in and whether they fit in with the players already established.
Now some things to consider for this list.
Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter may surprise with how well they play but they already have expectations, so they were not considered. Those three appear to be the Magic’s main trio that they are at least nominally building around.
While it would be a welcome sight for any of those players to take over as a true “number 1”, it does not feel like they belong on a list like this.
And some of the young guys like Caleb Houstan and R.J. Hampton were not included because of lack of opportunity. While they may surprise it will be in limited time, so they will not be on the list either.
Now that leaves the rest.
3 Orlando Magic players who will surprise in 2023
1. Mo Bamba
After the Orlando Magic landed the number one overall pick and selected Paolo Banchero, whether Mo Bamba would re-sign, kind of took a backseat in the media.
And there was not a big decision the Magic had to make on Bamba because he did not receive a lucrative offer like some were predicting.
So when he re-signed with Orlando, it went under the radar for most.
But after a promising year, Bamba is actually in a great position to continue his improvement and put together a surprise season.
Going into last year, Bamba only logged 15.8 minutes per game in the 2021 season under head coach Steve Clifford. And with Jonathan Isaac missing all of that year due to injury, it was all the more disappointing that he could not find his way into more playing time.
The stock on Bamba was at an all-time low and many considered him to be a bust.
But last season under first-year coach Jamahl Mosley, Mo Bamba saw his minutes increase by 9.9 per game and his averages go up across the board.
And even with the increase in volume, his shooting numbers went up. He shot 38.1-percent from three off of 4.0 attempts per game and shot 48-percent from the field off of a career high 8.7 attempts per game.
Bamba showed he was prepared for an increased role. And after re-signing in free agency for two years, $20.6 million, the organization has committed themselves to at least one more year of his development and likely two (the second year on his deal is non-guaranteed).
There is not much reason to think Bamba will not continue to receive opportunities even with Isaac coming back.
He may have to move to the bench as Paolo Banchero steps into the team. But the Magic have shown a willingness to be creative with their lineups. If Bamba plays well, he will earn his minutes and the team will find a way to play him.
Bamba was the main benefactor from the coaching change and has an entire year with Mosley that Isaac does not have.
On top of that, Robin Lopez left for the Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency, giving Mo Bamba some extra wiggle room in the front court.
Markelle Fultz coming back will also provide a veteran option at the point guard position, and should allow Mo Bamba easier looks at the rim.
All these signs should lead to another career year for Bamba.
Which should not be much of a surprise. But with Isaac coming back and Banchero being injected into the lineup, people seem to have forgot about him.
But that will not be the case for long, next year could be the year he surprises a lot of people.
3 Orlando Magic players who will surprise in 2023
2. Markelle Fultz
In the last two seasons, Markelle Fultz has played 26 total games and since 2020 the Orlando Magic have drafted two point guards in the lottery.
The national media has pretty much written him off as an unfortunate story and a player who does not hold the potential he once had coming out of Washington.
But Magic fans know the ability he has and they have seen what he can do when he leads the offense.
So to the Magic faithful, this would come as no surprise if Fultz makes a jump next season, but he is on this list because it would certainly surprise everybody else.
Now how can he finally make a jump and begin an upward trajectory?
First, he has got to stay healthy. The fact he has only played 26 games in the last couple years was mentioned earlier. But he has not been healthy in his entire NBA career outside of the 2020 season where he played 72 games.
In his other four seasons he has only managed to play 59 total games due to the lingering knee injury from his college days, the thoracic outlet syndrome that dramatically affected his ability to play and then the torn ACL he suffered early in the 2021 season.
If he can stay healthy, he will be able to put together a year that he is truly capable of. And that is a year as the starting point guard, and main playmaker on the Magic.
Fultz’s return to action this past season was a positive sign moving forward.
The 18 games he played last year coming off of his ACL tear will prove to be very important to him next year.
Getting to play under coach Jamahl Mosley should help. And having been on the court will prevent any mental block he could have had next year regarding his ability.
What he was able to produce on the court in limited minutes was also promising. Most of his averages were right in line with what they were pre-injury.
In 20.0 minutes per game, Fultz averaged 10.8 points per game on a career high 47.4-percent shooting from the floor. He also averaged a career high in assists at 5.5 per game. Again, this was all in limited minutes as the Magic brought him off the bench and carefully monitored his minutes in his return from a torn ACL.
They finally let him loose in the final game of the season. He scored 10 points to go with a career-high 15 assists in the finale win against the Miami Heat.
The only issue he will have next season is making sure he can coexist with Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony. Or figuring out the right pairing next to him if the Magic are on board with starting him from the jump.
But Fultz should begin the season with the keys because Suggs will most likely start the season coming off the bench and Anthony will probably start to play more minutes at shooting guard. Not to mention veteran Gary Harris remains in the mix.
It will be clear about a month into the season what kind of year he will have.
As a player who has been in the NBA for five years, Fultz has been through an entire career’s worth of adversity. But when he has been on the court for the Magic, he has shown he is more than capable of running the offense.
Now he will get to show that this year.
3 Orlando Magic players who will surprise in 2023
3. Jonathan Isaac
Jonathan Isaac being on the list may seem like a contradiction. And it very well could be with Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter in the front court.
Isaac has been out of sight and out of mind after being off the court for two years. A lot of people have just written him off, especially after having another surgery back in March.
Even if he does return, nobody knows what to expect from him. He is starting almost completely from scratch. That might be how the Orlando Magic view his contributions. They certainly have planned to continue playing without him with both Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero on the roster from the last two drafts.
Having a healthy season would probably surprise people at this point in time.
But when he is on the floor, he has the capability of being one of the Magic’s best players.
2020 was a successful season for Isaac as he set career highs in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals and shooting percentage while only playing in 2.6 more minutes per game than in the previous year.
Isaac logged almost 700 minutes on the court with Markelle Fultz in 2020 so next season they should be comfortable with each other, despite all of the roster turnover the last couple years.
Isaac also played just less than 1,000 minutes alongside Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon which shows his ability to play with different types of front court players.
He will need to be able to do the same with Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba if he wants to get consistent playing time.
Everyone just has to see where he left off and where he can take off from.
To start the season, he will have an opportunity, much like Fultz will, to prove himself as one of the veterans on such a young team. The Magic are going to be cautious with his minutes. But Isaac still has that elite defensive potential. It may be hard to keep him off the court.
Development in the NBA is not always linear.
Fans may want Isaac to at least pick up where he left off in 2020. After all, he is the highest paid player on the team and has taken plenty of time to get healthy.
But Isaac finding his way in the rotation and proving the investment was the right decision, is a lot easier said than done. And after being out of basketball for two years, asking anymore other than a healthy season may be unrealistic.
If he is not healthy, then all bets are off. He will not be a surprise player and will not be a part of the future. But if he can stay on the court, then he will set himself up to surprise many NBA fans.