Training camp is so close you can almost taste it now. The season is quickly becoming a reality as the team started their prep for the 2022-23 season Tuesday with the team’s first practice (things are currently on pause as Hurricane Ian moves through Florida).
The Orlando Magic announced their training camp roster Saturday, waiving Joel Ayayi and signing Aleem Ford and Zavier Simpson to what is believed to be Exhibit 10 contracts in preparation for their run in the G-League.
The Magic roster has essentially been set for most of the offseason. Orlando indeed brought everyone back — save for Robin Lopez and two-way contract player Ignas Brazdeikis — from their team last year. There will be a lot of familiarity.
That, the Magic say at least, will enable them to hit the ground running when the season begins.
Even coming off a 22-win season, the Magic are eager to get things going with this same group.
That is the sign of a rebuild going in the right direction at least. Having the No. 1 pick in the draft certainly helps. But every team should have some feeling of optimism in September just as their season begins.
The Orlando Magic have opened their training camp and there are a lot of questions and players to sort through as practice begins and the season comes into focus.
Orlando is not going to put too many expectations on their young group — among their roster players, only Gary Harris and Terrence Ross are older than 25 years old. The team is not facing many external expectations either. Everyone still expects the team to finish near the bottom of the standings.
So the Magic have put their focus on simple improvement. Improvement from an individual standpoint and as a team as they try to take steps toward winning.
If that leads the team to a surprising playoff or play-in run? So be it. That would certainly constitute a successful season.
Orlando though is still certainly putting all the pieces of its puzzle together. And it will certainly start this season with a careful evaluation of all the players on the roster. Unless this team really surprises, it would be hard to see the team bringing everyone back for a third run. The Magic will have to make moves sooner than later.
Everyone has some questions they will need to answer as they look to advance their careers and help the team grow.
This season will be a clarifying one for the Magic as they continue to rebuild.
As training camp gets set to being, we wanted to review the roster and look at where players can stand to improve and the big questions many of them face heading into the season.
1 Question for each Orlando Magic player
The Core Guys
The Orlando Magic are still largely figuring out their core players and the guys they actually want to build their team around. That is going to be one of the big pieces for discovery throughout this season.
Ask Magic fans though and you will find at least two guys are at the top of the list at the moment and probably a third most believe will be important. And that is where this roster will start and where the Magic will begin their examination for what to do and where to grow next.
Having the first overall pick helps with a lot of things. And that is undoubtedly one of the key storylines for the season.
Paolo Banchero — How ready is he for the NBA?
Entering the NBA Draft process, it was hard not to believe Paolo Banchero was the most NBA-ready of the top prospects. He had an NBA-ready body — the Orlando Magic are listing him at 6-foot-10, 255 pounds — and seemed to have all the skills.
The run up to the Draft probably had everyone overthinking the problem. Banchero was always the most NBA-ready player and the best individual scorer of the bunch. The Magic have not had someone who could just break down a defense and score a bunch in a long time.
What surprised them in Summer League was just how willing and smooth a passer he is. Coach Jamahl Mosley is already talking about how he wants to leverage that passing with Banchero in the high post and on different spots on the floor. Not to mention the Magic had Banchero running point in Las Vegas.
Orlando is eager to throw Banchero out there and explore every part of his game that the team can.
The question then for the rookie forward — the betting favorite to be Rookie of the Year — is just how ready is he for the league?
All the signs point to him being a very good player and holding his own. But the Magic want to see that hint of stardom and they want to see it early. Where Banchero finishes his season will go a long way to setting the tone for the Magic.
Franz Wagner — Can he expand his offensive role?
Throughout Franz Wagner‘s first-team All-Rookie season last year, everyone wanted to see more from him. Everyone loved the versatility he brought and his ability to fill in gaps in the offense. But to many, it always felt like he was not as involved.
Never mind, the stats said he took the second-most field goal attempts per game for the team last year. Perception beat reality.
Wagner’s run at EuroBasket got everyone irrationally excited for the gaudy numbers he put up — 15.2 points per game and 63.0-percent effective field goal percentage. But also led to the same complaints — he was not involved enough in pick and rolls or as a primary scorer.
The reality is we know Wagner enters this year at the very least better at the things he was already pretty good at last year. And that is exciting in itself because Wagner is better.
But everyone wants to know if Wagner can reach another level and whether he can be a better on-ball attacker and pick and roll threat, not merely a complementary player.
Orlando is in a good position to test out how much the team can expand his offensive role while still using him in ways that he was clearly comfortable in last year.
Either way, Wagner is due for a really strong second season.
Wendell Carter — What can’t Wendell Carter do?
Wendell Carter entered the league with the dreaded label of “jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none.” That is the death knell for any prospect. A label that is meant both to justify how high they are being drafted but put them down as a player who cannot do everything that is necessary to star in the league.
That certainly proved to be the case for Carter in Chicago in all the wrong ways. The Chicago Bulls simply could not figure out the way to use him. And his confidence sunk without the direction or trust from the franchise.
In his season and a half with the Orlando Magic, they put a lot more trust in him. Carter took on the challenge and has started to succeed. To the point where the Magic are now feeling a bit overloaded and trying to figure out how best to use their newfound center.
The Magic can use Carter as a low post threat, a pick and roll threat, a potentially floor-spacing big, a fulcrum from the high post. Carter really can do a lot and the question he faces this year is how much he can increase his skill level and consistency in a whole bunch of different areas.
Carter might well be the team captain and leader for this team. When he speaks, he seems to command his team’s respect and attention. That is a powerful thing. And there is probably no one who is a consistent drum beat more than Carter for this team.
He had a strong year last year. Now he has to do it again and do it better.
1 Question for each Orlando Magic player
Ready to Bounce Back
The Orlando Magic are a young team and most of their players have not even played enough to need to bounce back. Still, they have plenty of players who will see their roles shift or who need to bounce back from injuries and reclaim their potential.
As the Magic sort through their roster, a pecking order will develop and the team will have a better sense of which players will help and how they will help this team.
The players in this group have a lot to prove this year as they seek their fit with the roster.
Markelle Fultz — What does a healthy Markelle Fultz look like?
This question unfortunately will have to be put on pause thanks to the announcement Markelle Fultz broke his left big toe. He is in a walking boot but will not require surgery. It is not clear when he will return to the court.
That is a huge loss for the Orlando Magic. Fultz is a steady presence at point guard. He can set the table for everyone and is a crafty scorer. He gives the team a little improvisational nature that can throw defenses off.
What is most disappointing about this scenario is that Fultz was coming off his first healthy full offseason. Fultz was injured in his years in Philadelphia, was rehabbing and recovering entering his breakthrough 2020 season and then had a shortened offseason because of the COVID bubble. He then tore his ACL just six games into that season.
Nobody has seen what Fultz looks like when he has a full summer to get himself in shape. That was the exciting part for this season.
Unfortunately, that has been put on pause. And that part is frustrating for the team.
Jalen Suggs — Can he right his shot?
Jalen Suggs was one of the best defensive rookies in the league last year. He was legitimately a good defender. That alone ensures a place in the league somewhere.
There were plenty of other things that kept him in the league and made his rookie year better than it might initially appear. But it was hard to get past his shooting. It was admittedly very bad.
Suggs finished his rookie season averaging 11.8 points per game but shooting only 36.1 percent from the floor and 21.4 percent from beyond the arc. It is hard to sugarcoat those stats and every bright spot seemed to come with a setback pretty quickly.
To be sure, Suggs’ future depends on his ability to be at least a nominal shooter. He needs to be some kind of threat with the ball.
That was Suggs’ focus throughout his offseason. He said he worked with the Magic’s coaching staff to analyze and break down his mechanics with his shot. More importantly, he spent his offseason regaining confidence in all aspects of his shooting especially.
The proof of that work will come out on-court. And whether he is able to make an impact with his shot could determine a lot of what his career may yet be.
Jonathan Isaac — When will he play?
The question of whether Jonathan Isaac will play again has moved from if to when.
That should be seen as a positive regardless of anything else. Although that answer is not likely to satisfy fans — or even the incredibly patient Isaac — as the team has not seen Isaac play since tearing his ACL in August 2020.
That is a long time to be out. And the Orlando Magic would tell you that this is why they are being so cautious with his ramp-up to play.
But to hear Isaac tell it, he seems to feel he is pretty close. He repeated at Media Day what he said late in the offseason that he sees “light at the end of the tunnel.” Following Tuesday’s opening day of training camp he did drills with coaches and staff where they bumped him in the post before he went up for dunks (that is plural).
Isaac said during Media Day that he is fully recovered from his injury. If he had the all-clear to play, he feels comfortable and ready to play. That is about as good of an endorsement as anyone could give for him.
Yet, there is still the wait.
Both Jonathan Isaac and president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman hinted that where Isaac is at in the recovery process is putting all the various pieces of the puzzle together. It is all leading up to him finally playing some full contact, no restriction play. That will be his final step.
What should be clear now is that this is not a matter of if but when. It is figuring out the when the matters most now. And everyone hopes that it is soon.
1 Question for each Orlando Magic player
In Transition
Not every player on the Orlando Magic seems to have a boundless potential or upside. With so many young players on the roster, there is fighting for playing time and battles to be had for spots in the rotation.
Inevitably, some players will have to take on lesser roles to make room for new players or for the growing and sprouting of talents elsewhere on the roster. This is just reality and part of the competition the Magic claim will make them stronger in the end.
And so there are already some players who will likely move down in the depth chart and have to adjust to new roles this season.
Cole Anthony — Can Cole Anthony thrive in a supporting role?
Cole Anthony is never short on confidence. When asked at Media Day, Anthony proclaimed his goal remains to be an All-Star. He said, and probably rightfully analyzed, he got a taste of the star life in the first quarter of the season last year. But things slowly went wrong from there.
The whole offseason, it has been largely and widely assumed that Cole Anthony would eventually settle in as the team’s sixth man, backing up Markelle Fultz. Maybe that was always an assumption. Anthony, after all, is the incumbent starter (just as Fultz was before his injury). There is at least something to confirm on the court.
Regardless of whether Anthony eventually starts or comes off the bench, his role for this team is going to be different. It almost has to be different for this team to be successful.
Anthony led the team in scoring (16.3 points per game) and field goal attempts per game (14.0 per game). But he shot just 39.1 percent from the floor and 33.8 percent from beyond the arc on 6.0 3-point field goal attempts per game.
The Magic probably do not want him to lead the team in field goal attempts per game. And so Anthony’s big question — and probably the first time he has ever had to ask this question — is how does he work in a more supporting role? Can he work off the ball when he is not the main scorer?
This is why so many believe a Sixth Man role would be perfect for him. It is a scaling down of his current play and against non-starters and bench units more. That could be where he is more successful.
But there is very little proof Anthony could do this at any level. And so it is uncharted territory for him. And he will have to make his adjustments to be effective all over again.
Mo Bamba — Can Mo Bamba be an anchor on his own?
There are a lot of questions for Mo Bamba.
Entering last season, the question for Bamba was simply can he take advantage of playing time? That was something he was not afforded as much under coach Steve Clifford and the playoff expectations the team had. Bamba just was not ready to contribute consistently on a team like that.
He probably always needed an environment where he could grow and make his mistakes. He needed coaching that was focused keenly on his development and his growth.
That is what he got in Jamahl Mosley last year. It turned into a career season where he started 69 games (playing 71) and averaged 10.6 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game and 1.7 blocks per game. All were career highs. Bamba took advantage of that opportunity and showed some real growth.
But things are changing. And while Bamba slid into the starting lineup last year and earned that spot, things are undoubtedly different now.
The point that I always come back to is that Mo Bamba played nearly two-thirds of his minutes alongside Wendell Carter last year. Carter proved to be a pretty solid backstop for Bamba and his tendency to go for blocks — he recorded a lot of blocks, but teams were not necessarily afraid to attack him.
There are a lot of areas where Bamba needs to continue to improve. His defensive awareness and discipline are at the top of that list. He is already a great offensive weapon as a floor spacer and screener. His task has always been putting those pieces together.
This year, everyone expects Mo Bamba to go to the bench once again with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner starting at the forward spots. So Bamba needs to own that role. And especially own that role on defense as the team’s defensive anchor for that bench group.
Whether he is able to anchor the team off the bench will determine a lot of where his career might go next.
1 Question for each Orlando Magic player
The Veterans
The Orlando Magic have only two players older than 25 years old right now. If there is a weakness in the team, it is its youth. That could be the biggest thing that could hold the team back at the end of the day.
The Magic’s veteran players will have a key role for the team though. They will provide stability and some composure to a young team that is short on experience and is developing our leaders.
These guys will have key roles to play on a young team.
Terrence Ross — Can T-Ross re-light the Torch?
Terrence Ross entered this season with the weight of a light trade request hanging over him.
The credit to him is that he was still committed to the team and the rebuild. He just has other individual goals he wants to accomplish right now at his age. But Ross always said he believes in this team’s future and the culture the team is building. Nobody has embraced being in Orlando more than Ross.
The reason Ross is probably still in Orlando though was the team did not get the value back it wanted. Ross just had a very bad season last year for the Magic.
That may change by the time the trade deadline comes around once again. But Orlando held onto Ross. And so Ross has to push through those struggles from last year.
Ross had his worst shooting percentages since his rookie year, averaging 10.0 points per game and shooting 39.7 percent from the floor and 29.2 percent from beyond the arc. Playing with the Magic’s depleted and very young bench hurt Ross a ton and teams put extra focus on top blocking and preventing Ross from getting to his shots.
To Ross’ credit, he said at Media Day that he spent a good chunk of his offseason shooting difficult shots. He was actively practicing the kind of contests he faced last year so he could be more efficient. He understands his role is to hit these bailout shots.
Orlando needs Ross to regain that spark that turned games regularly in the 2019 playoff run. And if Ross indeed wants to find himself on a contender by the end of the season, he needs to reignite that spark too.
Gary Harris — Can Harris claim a starting spot?
The question when Gary Harris arrived in Orlando was simply could he be healthy again? This was the question that has followed Harris since his breakout 2018 season with the Denver Nuggets. The Orlando Magic just needed to see Harris healthy and out on the court.
He had a fantastic season last year, averaging 11.1 points per game and shooting 38.4 percent from beyond the arc. That was the exact contribution the Magic needed from a veteran like Harris.
It felt like, with Jalen Suggs’ struggles, Gary Harris was in line to start to give the Magic some stability and shooting in their starting lineup. Then Harris tore his meniscus and that opportunity was taken from him once again.
The Magic are rightfully focused on their youth and developing young players. That will always give Suggs a leg up — especially if he improves as a shooter and a decisionmaker. But Harris’ solid defense and shooting are known commodities when he is healthy. That has value.
And depending on where the Magic are at, Harris might still be important enough to start.
The first goal, as always, is to get Harris healthy. He seems to be further along than many expect. But the Magic are not about to rush him back. They need starter-level play from him and they cannot afford for Harris to miss time because of a poor recovery.
Moe Wagner — How many fights will Moe Wagner pick?
Is it fair to reduce Moe Wagner’s role to needler and instigator on this team? Absolutely not.
Wagner had a season last year that flipped plenty of opinions about him (especially yours truly). He was a very good backup big, able to hit some shots from beyond the arc just as capably as he was on the inside. Wagner has limited skills but is very good at what he is good at.
Of course, the highlights of his season were the times he got in it with star players. Luka Doncic became the latest to get annoyed by Moe Wagner’s presence. There were plenty of others.
Wagner is good at using his time to get under people’s skins. He gives the team a bit of an edge — in a similar but still different way that Michael Carter-Williams used to.
Every team needs a guy that can do this. They need someone who is going to pick a fight and change the energy for a team. Someone who is going to make sure their team is not getting punked.
Wagner could very well have a key goal in training camp too. The team needs an edge and to test how far its young players can go and how they will handle players trying to needle him.
I almost want Jamahl Mosley to let Moe Wagner hack away at Paolo Banchero without blowing the whistle just to test his limits and challenge him physically. That is sort of Wagner’s role on this team. To be a presence physically and needle opponents to change tempo.
So how under the skin can he get during the course of the year? Orlando hopes it will not have to use it. But it is something the team has in reserve.
1 Question for each Orlando Magic player
Prospects of Interest
The greatest debates within the Orlando Magic roster this year will be about the use of their young players and how to get the most out of them. But there is only so much time to give and only so much space on the roster.
Not everyone is going to play. There are a lot of young players on the Magic who could be players and could develop into something but are quickly finding themselves pushed down the depth chart and fighting for their roles on the team.
For them, most of all, training camp is going to be important for figuring out their roles.
To be sure with the youth on this roster and the ever-presence of injuries, these players will have their opportunities at some point this season.
Chuma Okeke — Can Okeke diversify his offense again?
There is a lot to like about Chuma Okeke. But like so many of the players on this slide especially, it is going to come down to performance.
Most of the players in this category on the roster have shown flashes and shown potential. But they have not put all the pieces together quite yet. They have not earned a clear spot or a clear role.
Okeke is probably the foremost of these.
Under coach Steve Clifford, he favored him for his defense and he stepped up in big ways on that end. Offensively, though, he moved him around, using him as a cutter and in the post. He moved around and scored in a variety of ways, softening the blow of when his outside shot was not falling.
The way Jamahl Mosley changed his usage was quite shocking. Last year, Okeke took 64.5 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. He almost became exclusively a 3-point shooter, adding in a few timely cuts to the basket for other scores.
Okeke has a more diverse game. Clifford used him at times as a post-up option — he had 0.8 post-up possessions per game at 1.11 points per possession according to NBA.com’s player tracking stats in 2021 compared to 0.2 post-up possessions per game at 0.73 points per possession last year.
Okeke needs to improve as a 3-point shooter. Health and consistency will help with that (he was never quite right after a hip injury in training camp last year). But so would diversifying his attack and taking advantage of all of his versatility.
He has to start off well too. Because his minutes will get a squeeze once Jonathan Isaac is cleared to play.
R.J. Hampton — Can Hampton improve his decision-making?
When coach Jamahl Mosley has talked about the team leveling up, he has meant it on several fronts. That includes his call on the team to be smarter decision-makers elsewhere. That certainly would help limit mistakes but it is a good directive for a young team.
Young teams become better decision-makers as they get more experience and learn from their mistakes. But this kind of skill and growth can make or break a lot of young players.
That is especially for R.J. Hampton. His time with the Magic has been characterized by his speed and athleticism and his inability to direct that constantly in a positive direction. His decision-making has come under fire as much as anyone.
His time in Summer League did not cool any concerns about it either. He was pretty inefficient and did not look like the third-year player volunteering for extra work.
The Magic are still trying to figure out what to do with Hampton. He has a ton of potential that is hard to deny. But by many advanced catch-all metrics, he was one of the absolute worst players in the league.
For Hampton, he has to be smarter and more composed, learning how to use his athleticism (and his improving shooting skill) more effectively. Fans and the team should not feel like they are rolling the dice when they put him in the game.
Bol Bol — Can a center be a guard?
To hear Terrence Ross tell it, Bol Bol was one of the more impressive players at the team’s pickup runs in August and September. He was a player whose size did not matter, he was just dropping threes on everyone.
That is what attracted a lot of people to Bol during his first run with the Denver Nuggets in the bubble and why he was among the top prospects in his draft class until a leg injury derailed his time at Oregon.
Bol is a mystery because he has played so little due to a variety of injuries. It is hard for anyone to get a sense of what he can give the team.
Part of the mystery is that nobody quite knows how to use him. The Nuggets wanted to use him as a small forward and all anyone talks about are his guard skills. That is probably his ticket to playing, creating a matchup nightmare for other bigs. But he would struggle defensively unless he is in the paint, where he is an excellent shot blocker.
The Magic are going to have to find some time to figure out how to use him. But they have the versatility in the front court to allow him to play to his strengths and cover for his weaknesses.
This is a great opportunity.
Caleb Houstan — How quickly can Houstan get his shot going?
Ask Orlando Magic players about how the rookies are integrating and pretty consistently so far they will all talk about Caleb Houstan, and not top overall pick Paolo Banchero (who also gets effusive praise).
To them, Houstan has been one of the hardest workers and a sponge for whatever anyone has said to him as they prepared for the season. That is incredibly strong to hear from players throughout the roster and could suggest Houstan was not just a flyer on a former highly touted recruit in the second round. Houstan very well could be a player.
For now, his best apparent skill is his shooting. That was on display early on in Summer League when he was with the Magic’s main roster players. That was his best skill at Michigan. And if he is going to make his way on the roster — beyond some assignment starts in Lakeland — he will have to do it with his shooting.
This is where Houstan can make his most immediate impact. And where he probably will find his way onto the court early on.
1 Question for each Orlando Magic player
The Rest of the Roster
Devin Cannady — Can Devin Cannady expand beyond being a shooter?
Devin Cannady is a player the Orlando Magic want in their camp. They stuck with him through a major leg injury and brought him back last year, signing him to a two-year deal. That was rewarding a lot of faith the two had in each other.
Cannady provides a really important skill for the Magic. He is an excellent shooter and the Magic are short on shooting. Very short on shooting.
Cannady though has to keep improving and expand his game beyond this one skill, as important as that skill is. He is not quite a point guard as he is not a great playmaker and he lacks size to be visually a plus defender. He will have to find something else to contribute to make the Magic’s roster.
Either that or become an elite shooter.
Kevon Harris — Can Harris continue making an impression?
Kevon Harris is really the only newcomer to the entire Orlando Magic program. Everyone else on the roster had some relationship to the franchise and the organization before training camp begins.
Harris though played for the Minnesota Timberwolves in Summer League. He said he was in contact with the Magic throughout the offseason before finally signing that two-way contract. Harris clearly made an impression after a strong run with the Wolves’ Summer League team.
He now has to continue making that impression by being a solid scorer and attacker and especially by growing his defensive ability. He is a good swing guard and should be a great addition in Lakeland.
Admiral Schofield — Can he increase his versatility
The one thing Admiral Schofield says he prides himself on is his versatility. He said during Media Day his goal for this season was to become better defending point guards so he could truly switch 1 through 5.
That is a great admiration and Schofield’s size is his big advantage. He is good enough defensively that he can guard forwards on the wing, although he is a bit undersized to spend too much time in the paint.
Schofield’s versatility is his value right now. But there is still a lot of skill work he needs to continue adding to bust down the NBA door more permanently.
Zavier Simpson — Can Simpson add a jumper to his hook shot?
Zavier Simpson is best known right now as the point guard who mastered the hook shot. He runs what is essentially a sky hook like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And it somehow works.
That is one way to stand out. Do something unique and do it well. He is great at attacking the basket, using his size to take hits and find space to get his shot off.
But hook shots are not the most efficient shots in the world. And Simpson has to become a more consistent perimeter shooter to take his next steps.
Aleem Ford — Can Ford continue expanding to the perimeter?
Aleem Ford was one of the pleasant surprises from the Orlando Magic’s bout with COVID last December. He was an energy big who did a good job defending the paint and running the floor. Those were all really good signs and plenty to keep him on the team’s radar.
But he got a different look at Summer League. The Magic gave him the green light to shoot threes and Ford embraced the opportunity, even if he was not an effective shooter quite yet.
Ford went 3 for 14 from beyond the arc. But even the experiment was worth it to see the potential of it. The question for camp is whether Ford has taken that green light and gone for it.