3 difficult offseason decisions Magic will have to make

With the Orlando Magic’s chances of making the Play-In Tournament looking less likely by the day, now is as good a time as ever to turn our attention to the offseason.

This has been a good year for the organization. They found their franchise cornerstone in Paolo Banchero, watched Franz Wagner have a terrific sophomore outing and remained competitive.

To have been in close games and going for the Play-In, but likely still ending up with two lottery picks, was the next best outcome other than making the playoffs proper for this young group.

As positive as all of this is, there are three difficult decisions that the Orlando Magic are going to have to make this summer, and it is hugely important they nail them.

Building a competitive team is done in stages, and this is the furthest along the road to true contention the Magic have gotten in over a decade.

They have a head coach in Jamahl Mosley that the roster responds to, a young core that is among the best in the league and the flexibility to go in several directions as well.

The next step is navigating the transition of a fun, young team to real, up-and-coming outfit and these are the three decisions the organization will have to get right this summer to do that.

3. Do they go after a big name this summer?

The next disgruntled NBA star is never too far from making themselves known, and the Magic have put themselves in a prime position to be in any trade talks when they become available.

With their two lottery picks this season, all of their own picks going forward and players like Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Bol Bol, Gary Harris and even Jonathan Isaac to offer, the Magic are in a strong position to push their chips to the middle of the table.

If they do decide to do this, it is imperative they get the player, and what they give up, right. Talk of Trae Young in the past did not go down very well among fans. And Karl-Anthony Towns might not be it either.

But with Fred VanVleet the only other player the team has been heavily linked with as their free agency splash this summer, they need to dream bigger.

In hindsight, Donovan Mitchell was probably the player to go after, because we can see now how the rapid developments of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner would have meshed so well with Mitchell.

Should the Magic elect not to make their big move this offseason, they also run the risk of missing their chance to take a big step forward. They will have to hand out a big contract to Cole Anthony that will kick in during the 2025 season. And they will have big contracts to give to Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs in the summer of 2025.

Orlando’s window with cap room is closing fast.

In adding another big player, and in adding two more lottery picks, their rotation will become more crowded than it already is when everybody is healthy.

The importance of the timing here cannot be underestimated.

2. Do they draft some Markelle Fultz insurance?

In four seasons with the Orlando Magic, point guard Markelle Fultz has managed only 142 regular season games and counting through injury.

This season he is posting career highs in points (13.3), assists (5.5), rebounds (4.1) and even 3-point shooting percentage (a lowly 31 percent).

When he is on the court, it is clear Fultz makes everything tick and he plays at his own pace. At 24 years old, the best looks like it is yet to come, and he is doing an excellent job with the Magic.

But should the team look at drafting another prospect to come in as insurance, given the chequered injury history of Fultz?

After all, if the Magic are being linked with VanVleet, or even if an All-Star level guard becomes available, would that have a negative impact on Fultz and his role with the team anyway?

The Magic still have many needs, and the draft can help address several of them, but a point guard would not be the worst direction to go.

Obviously, this would call into question Anthony’s future with the franchise also. But if you gave fans the choice of having Fultz or Anthony run the show, most would take Fultz.

The Magic are going to be good next season, and Fultz is a really important part of the reason why. But thinking rationally, and given this team’s bad injury luck, taking a point guard in the draft would be smart.

1. Do they finally cut ties with Jonathan Isaac?

Everybody was disappointed to see Jonathan Isaac again go under the knife to solve an adductor issue recently, ruling him out for the remainder of the regular season.

This issue was always likely to happen, but seeing Issac break down so soon after coming back from more than two years out injured, felt like the final nail in the coffin of his Magic career.

In all, Isaac managed to play 11 games before going down again, never playing for more than 16 minutes, and appearing in only one back-to-back on a heavy minutes restriction.

There is no doubt when Isaac is healthy, he is a defensive menace. In his short stint back on the court, the Magic had the best defensive rating in the entire league, a hugely promising sign.

But we know now Isaac will never be able to stay healthy for long enough to make a real difference during the course of a season. To think otherwise would be foolish.

Yes, he could still come good when the team needs him, such as during a playoff run. But that is no longer a guarantee either.

So is now the time to see what, if anything, the Magic can get in return? Is a first round pick too sweet for another organization to give up?

If you reversed the roles, you would not like to see the Magic make that kind of deal. But not every other team is on the same upward trajectory, and those franchises have more time on their sides.

It feels like this is the offseason that Isaac and the Magic part ways and if that is the case, what comes next will be hugely important as they seek to become a playoff-level team next season.