Orlando Magic waive Devin Cannady to drop to 15 for season

The Orlando Magic knew they would have a tough decision to make before training camp began. They entered camp with the maximum 20 players and had locked up two two-way players already.

The only problem is they had 16 guaranteed contracts. One of those would have to be cut before Monday’s deadline.

There was going to have to be some internal competition for that final spot. Maybe it was unfortunately always the decision once it became clear the kind of leap R.J. Hampton had made and the way second-round pick Caleb Houstan was playing.

The Magic probably knew this decision was coming, as disappointing as it would be for the organization and for fans.

The team announced Saturday morning it had cut its final two Exhibit 10 players in Simi Shittu and Jay Scrubb. But the team also announced it was waiving guard Devin Cannady to bring the roster down to 15.

The Orlando Magic made the tough call to cut Devin Cannady to bring their roster down to 15 players before the start of the regular season.

It was an emotional departure, to say the least, for both the player and the team.

This was obviously a tough decision. Cutting any player is hard. Cutting one who had so embraced the team’s culture and identity is even tougher.

Cannady had endeared himself to teammates and to fans for his relentless positivity and hard work. It is hard to believe that it was only a little more than a year and a half ago that Cannady was working his way back from a horrific leg injury.

As Cannady would probably say, this is just the next step in his journey.

The writing though seemed on the wall.

Cannady played only 7.3 minutes the entire preseason, the fewest of any of the players who played. His stats are probably not worth recounting. The Magic ultimately knew what they had in him.

Cannady’s story is really one of that perseverance.

He had a starring run for the Lakeland Magic in the G-League Bubble in 2021, helping them to the title. That earned him his first call-up to the NBA. But just eight games into that run with the Magic, he came down hard and suffered a fracture in his leg.

He spent nearly the next year recovering, getting an Exhibit 10 deal with the Magic at the end of training camp so that he could continue rehabbing in Lakeland. He returned in the G-League in February. Then he got his return to the NBA for the final five games in the 2022 season.

In those five games, he averaged 10.0 points per game and shot 40.5-percent from beyond the arc on 7.0 3-point attempts per game.

There was one thing everyone knew Cannady could do: Shoot the cover off the ball. That is what he did in Lakeland and it carried over to Orlando.

That is a clear NBA skill that Cannady has. It should keep him well within the NBA’s periphery. He will get an opportunity somewhere — even if he has to prove himself all over again at Lakeland or elsewhere in the G-League.

The Magic just became too guard-heavy to carry him to the regular season. They are loaded at point guard with Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony and even R.J. Hampton occupying the team’s lead guard minutes. It would have been tough for him to find minutes. The addition of Houstan with a second-round pick only made the path to minutes harder (not to mention Houstan also fills that sharpshooter role).

Still, that does not lighten the disappointment of losing Cannady. He was someone everyone in the organization and in the fan base loved.

It was not just his work ethic to get back. Everyone cheered him on his recovery from injury and wanted to see him get the chance that the injury ripped away from him.

Cannady was someone who dove headfirst into the Magic as an organization and a culture. He embraced everything about the city and the team. He was as big a believer in this group as anyone else, going from the final days of Steve Clifford into the early days of Jamahl Mosley.

It is hard not to feel disappointed about this decision and for Cannady because of that. He was an embodiment of the fighting spirit the team wants to engender.

But this is a business too. There are only so many roster spots available. The team cannot keep everyone. The machine keeps spinning. And so the Magic had to move on and move forward.

Cannady will do the same. And it should not be too long for him to settle into his new opportunity and continue his journey soon.

Any team would be lucky to have him.