3 Magic players that earned untouchable status, 2 that could be cut loose

The Orlando Magic’s regular season is almost at an end, and it has been one that many fans have rightly not wanted to see finished.

This is now a young and exciting team, with their best days still very much in front of them. With two potential lottery picks on the way this summer too. The future is bright.

Even the recently agreed upon new CBA will have future benefits for the organization. Another positive for a franchise that has suffered its fair share of heartbreak in the past.

But the end of the season brings with it the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. As fun as this group is, it still fell short of the postseason and a shot at the Play-In Tournament. The team will have to figure out how to get over that final hurdle.

And that inevitably means some changes to the roster will have to be made.

Looking at how the Orlando Magic’s roster performed this season, a number of players reached untouchable status, while some now find their position under threat.

Here we look at three players who are sure to start next season as key parts of head coach Jamahl Mosley’s rotation, as well as two players who are likely to be shown the exit this summer.

This list would be no fun if we added either Paolo Banchero or Franz Wagner because, as we all know, they are the franchise’s cornerstones for the next half-decade at least.

Similarly, Jonathan Isaac has not been included in players who could be moved. It is unfair to speculate on his future right now given his poor run of injury luck.

Everybody else though is fair game. So let’s take a closer look at the futures of several players.

3 players to keep, 2 in danger for the Orlando Magic

3. Markelle Fultz

The most obvious place to start: What a season point guard Markelle Fultz has had.

It says everything that he is many fans’ favorite player on a roster featuring Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.

He should be in the running for some Most Improved Player votes at the end of the season. And at this stage, he is pulling off windmill dunks and hitting 3-pointers with ease.

Still only 24 years old, it really cannot be overstated just how impressive Fultz’s revitalization has been with the Magic. He is clearly their floor general as they continue to improve.

He brings a poise and calm that no other guard in the rotation can come close to, and the 14.0 points and 5.7 assists per game he is averaging this year are both career highs.

It may be a stretch to say Fultz is completely out of the woods in terms of injuries, as he has managed only 57 games this season, all of them starts. But he had no recurrence of any injuries after recovering from the foot injury.

We are yet to see Fultz play with a full healthy offseason and training camp. And that part is scary considering he is a former top overall pick.

It does feel like he has turned a corner and is playing the most consistent basketball of his still-young career. He is only shooting 30 percent from deep, but he is taking 1.4 attempts per night. He has not been afraid to work on his biggest weakness and keep defenses honest.

That is also a career-high, and while that number needs to improve, to watch Fultz is to see a player no longer afraid of taking shots and being more selfish in looking for his. A true untouchable.

3 players to keep, 2 in danger for the Orlando Magic

2. Wendell Carter Jr.

The Orlando Magic executed the perfect trade back in 2021 in moving franchise leading man Nikola Vucevic to the Chicago Bulls, and center Wendell Carter was the player they got back in that deal.

The pick that turned into Franz Wagner was also in there, as well as this year’s likely lottery pick from the Bulls (it is top-four protected). At the time, fans felt the Carter addition was a bit . . . meh.

But this was the season where the big man proved without any doubt he can be the anchor in the paint for this young Magic team. A perfect complement next to Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.

Consider this: The Magic have the 16th-best defensive rating in the league this year at 113.6 points per 100 possessions, although that figure is hampered by a 5-20 start. In February, they ranked fourth (108.2).

When Carter is on the court, the team has a rating of 111.2, which would put them third in the entire league. Concrete evidence Carter is a massive plus defensively on the court.

Your own eyes would tell you the same thing if you have watched the impact he has had this season, although the 15.5 points per game Carter Jr. has put up is also a career-high.

He is not quite the modern big man, but Carter continues to evolve and is perfectly suited to manning the middle for a young roster that has the ability to one day soon be elite defensively.

3 players to keep, 2 in danger for the Orlando Magic

1. Jalen Suggs

The most surprising inclusion on this list, Jalen Suggs has had a promising sophomore season. His first year in the league underwhelmed and was made worse by Franz Wagner’s amazing start.

Coming from the same draft class, Wagner took to the challenge of helping the Magic improve like a duck to water. Suggs on the other hand struggled for form and consistency after a memorable spell in Gonzaga.

Injuries were the story of that year as a hand injury cut the early part of his season short and then an ankle injury ended it early and cut deep into his summer.

Suggs has played 49 times this season, which is right in line with the 48 from a year ago. Whereas he started 45 games as a rookie and looked lost at times, he has only started 15 times this year.

Suggs looks more comfortable doing this, and has settled into the role of being an above-average defender who is taking nearly four attempts from deep per night.

Which is why he finds himself on this list over a player like Cole Anthony, despite averaging fewer points (9.8) and assists (3.0) than last season (11.8 points and 4.4 assists).

What Jalen Suggs can do for this organization fits better next to Markelle Fultz, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter

At this point, that second guard spot is the only starting position that looks up for grabs, and even if Suggs does not take it, he has the tools moving forward to be of real value to the Magic.

He just fits with what they’re trying to build, and coach Mosley knows he can trust him to clamp down on star guards for minutes at a time. An invaluable, and untouchable, skill to possess.

3 players to keep, 2 in danger for the Orlando Magic

2. Bol Bol

How has Bol Bol found himself on the wrong end of this list?

The unicorn-like big man, who some christened the “wish.com version of Victor Wembanyama”, has had a serious slide with the Magic.

It all started off so well. Bol shot across the league sky like a shooting star to begin the campaign, and opponents had absolutely no clue how to stop him.

Yes, this was somewhat out of necessity because of the crippling injury list the organization had. But to Bol’s credit, he seized his opportunity with both hands.

Yet Bol has not been seen since March 20, and in his last two games played against both Los Angeles teams, he played five and six minutes respectively.

Some fall-off from November, when Bol was playing more than 30 minutes per night and putting up over 14 points while shooting a ridiculous 44 percent from deep, was expected and foreshadowed.

The heart says keep Bol around as an anomaly to throw at opponents as the Magic get better.

The head says he is horrendous defensively, and the time to cash in on his repaired trade value is this summer.

3 players to keep, 2 in danger for the Orlando Magic

1. Chuma Okeke

There was a time not too long ago when it felt like the Orlando Magic’s rebuild had taken a step forward, and passed both Mo Bamba and Jonathan Isaac by.

This was why Bamba was traded, and although Isaac looked tremendous defensively in the 11 games he played before going out again for the rest of the season, he too could yet be done with the Magic.

Chuma Okeke suddenly finds himself occupying this position, and his spot on the roster is under serious scrutiny. It is unfortunate injuries limited him to only 24 games this season.

It is also fair to say that when healthy, he has the kind of big body to be an interesting choice in the Magic’s wing rotation to slow down flashy scorers.

Okeke has shown he can do this, but it has just not happened enough. He has started 46 games across three seasons, while never coming close to averaging double-digits in scoring. This is a concern.

It is made worse by the fact Paolo Banchero, Markelle Fultz, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter, Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony, Gary Harris and even Moe Wagner have successfully absorbed his minutes while he has been injured.

The Magic are likely adding at least two draft picks and potentially a free agent or two. Someone is going to find it hard to make an opportunity for themselves among all these young players. Like R.J. Hampton, someone is going to get squeezed out of the rotation.

It never feels like he is missing when he is not out there, which is about the worst thing you can say about a player trying to carve out a role on a young roster.

There was a place for Okeke on this roster. There may even still be a reduced one. But with the two incoming lottery picks sure to shake things up, Okeke’s time with the Magic looks to be up.