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Orlando Magic 2023 Offseason Calendar: A lot to get to in important offseason

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner helped the Orlando Magic wake up from their malaise and score a come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner helped the Orlando Magic wake up from their malaise and score a come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jamahl Mosley, Orlando Magic
Jamahl Mosley and the Orlando Magic have the number one pick. Nobody knows yet what they will do with it. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /

2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Calendar

May 16: NBA Draft Lottery

Of course, the big day everyone is waiting for is the NBA Draft Lottery.

That is where a team’s future is going to forever change. Especially with Victor Wembanyama waiting the winner.

This is a situation like the 1992 NBA Draft Lottery where everyone is going to have their jersey readymade perhaps to unveil when they get up to the podium and celebrate with Mark Tatum.

The Orlando Magic certainly celebrated winning the top pick last year and Paolo Banchero had a historic rookie year. But he was not the clear-cut number-one player (perhaps he should have been) and the Magic spent a month debating and trying to figure out who they should take.

That will not be the case this time.

Of course, only one team gets the top pick. And the Magic, through their own late-season chicanery, set themselves up well to stay competitive late into the season and with a solid pick in the upcoming draft.

Orlando finished sixth in the Lottery standings. That will give the team 90 number combinations on Lottery night and a 9.0 percent chance of winning the NBA Draft Lottery for a second straight year. It also gives them a 37.2 percent chance of landing in the top four.

It is safe to assume that when Lottery Day ends, the Magic will be picking sixth or seventh (one team always jumps up from outside the top four).

Additionally, as described in the previous slide, the Orlando Magic will get the Chicago Bulls’ pick if it lands outside the top four (something that has at least a 91.5 percent chance of happening).

So Orlando will enter the draft with a good chance of having two Lottery picks. What they do with that is anybody’s guess at this point. They could easily take both and add both to the team. They could be active in trades using both picks to trade out for veteran help. They could try to trade up (not very likely with how even the players are in this draft class).

But the point of this offseason is the Magic have options. And a lot of them.

The Lottery will bring some clarity into what the Magic will do.