The Orlando Magic’s season has come to a close.
It has been nearly a week since the Magic took the floor together for the final time in Miami and then met at the AdventHealth Training Center for their final formal meetings with coaches and staff.
As president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman noted, the culture around the NBA has certainly changed where those exit interviews are not as final as they once were. Players are not going to be out of the gym for very long and the team is going to be able to keep an eye on any players who stay in town.
Basketball never stops. And while the games for the Magic have stopped. There is still a lot to get to this offseason.
The Orlando Magic are expected to have an active and busy offseason. Here is the road map and calendar for what is going to come very soon.
For the Magic, this is expected to be a big offseason. One where the team might begin adding players and making moves to climb up the standings in a more significant way.
The team showed that it is capable of winning — or at least playing at a .500 level — for most of the season after they shed their injuries. It is clear the team has some work to do to reach its next level.
But for the first time in a long time, it is hard to deny the Magic are a potential force to be reckoned with. They may very well have one of the brightest futures in the league.
That could easily get snuffed out with a poor offseason or making the wrong moves. There will be plenty of decisions to make on that front — including potential long-term extensions for Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony that will go a long way to determining the team’s direction and future moves.
But the offseason is just starting and the team will have to take everything at the same time and in turn. Everything happens all at once and on a strict calendar.
So as the Magic begin their offseason and finish decompressing from the grind of the season, they will be watching the playoffs to gain whatever lessons they can — success leaves clues, as Weltman says — and preparing for their own offseason.
For your benefit, here is an eye on the offseason calendar for the Magic:
2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Calendar
April 14 & April 17: Chicago Bulls’ pick is determined
The Chicago Bulls pulled away to earn the final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference. They then stunned many with a win over the Toronto Raptors in the first play-in game and nearly took down the Miami Heat on the road. The Bulls ran out of steam as the Heat’s clutch play became too much.
A win in Friday’s game against the Miami Heat would have taken the Chicago Bulls out of the Lottery and guaranteed the Orlando Magic the 15th pick in the upcoming NBA Draft to complete the Nikola Vucevic trade from 2021.
Instead, the Chicago Bulls’ loss and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s loss send the Bulls to the all-important lottery tiebreaker.
Monday, the league office is expected to hold its annual tiebreaker draw to break any draft ties, including the tie for 11th in the Lottery standings between the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The draw is a simple lottery drawing. They place the tied teams’ logo on a lottery ball, place it in the lottery drum and draw a winner. The importance of this random draw is for placement.
If the Bulls were to win this lottery, they would have an 8.5 percent chance of entering the top four (1.8 percent chance of winning the lottery) and pick 11th if they fail to jump in the top four. If they lose this draw, they would have an 8.0 percent chance of entering the top four (1.7 percent chance of winning the entire lottery) and pick 12th if they and Oklahoma City fail to jump into the top four.
The tiebreaker will give the winning team that extra number combination in the hopper. That could be important or be the difference between the Magic getting the Bulls’ pick or not. It would also be important in determining where the Magic will finally end up should that Bulls pick convey (which it is very likely to do).
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.
2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Calendar
June 22: The NBA Draft
The Orlando Magic are expected to be a bit more active this offseason than they have been in the past. Having a clearer idea about the team’s future will do that to you.
As will having the resources to make anything happen — whether that comes in a trade or free agency or however else a team adds players.
So much of the early part of the offseason is going to be focused on the draft process. We have spent the first part of his calendar looking at and preparing for the draft with the focus on which picks the Magic will have and where they will land.
The first clue to what the Magic will ultimately do will come on draft night.
Will the Magic package one or both of their picks to bring in some veteran help? Will they look to make both picks and add to their young group? Which players will they add in the process?
This year, the Magic are in a position to add some key players and fill some needs.
They could look to add another versatile forward in Cam Whitmore, Jarace Walker or Taylor Hendricks. They could look to add shooters in Gradey Dick, Jordan Hawkins or Keyonte George. They could look to add another defensive-minded guard in Anthony Black, Nick Smith or Cason Wallace.
They could end up with one of the top picks in Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller. Or one of the other dynamic guards in Amen Thompson or Ausar Thompson.
There are a lot of options. And the Magic can certainly make many of them work within their current group. Orlando might have a fairly bright future, but they still know they have work to do and talent to add one way or the other.
The question then is: Which direction will that go? And what will the Magic do?
Draft night will set the tone for the rest of the offseason. It will signal how aggressive the Magic want to be in free agency or if they will even attack free agency at all.
They will set a lot of their future develop on this one night. And it is a preview of what will come.
2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Calendar
June 30: Contract Deadlines
July 1: Free Agency Begins
The Orlando Magic are in one of the most interesting positions throughout the offseason. But they are also in an extremely flexible position. They can essentially map out what kind of summer they are going to have. And they will give us lots of clues about what they will do along the way.
The Draft is obviously the first clue to this process. They will let everyone know how aggressive they will be and what roles they fill based on their two draft picks.
An aggressive trade changes the calculus for free agency just as adding a shooter or similar role players in the draft checks off certain boxes for this team’s future and development.
The biggest clue to what the Magic will do in free agency will actually come in the days before free agency starts.
Orlando is expected to be one of the teams with significant cap room this offseason. Jeff Weltman has done an incredible job creating tons of flexibility within his roster. The team has 14 players (plus two two-way contracts) under contract for next season. But six of those are at least partially guaranteed for next year.
The Magic have until June 29 to exercise team options on Michael Carter-Williams, Admiral Schofield and Bol Bol. They would also have until June 30 to guarantee Markelle Fultz and Gary Harris’ contracts. If both of those players are on the roster past that date, their contracts become fully guaranteed.
It feels pretty safe that Carter-Williams and Schofield will have that option declined. Bol is certainly a bit more up in the air (at $2.2 million, that is a small salary on the books). It also feels pretty certain Fultz will remain on the roster.
But there is at least some question on whether Harris will stick around. The Magic obviously have Jalen Suggs whom the team might push more to the front. And there are certainly some discussions of the Magic targeting free-agent guards like Fred VanVleet or Gary Trent Jr. among others.
The Magic would not be able to chase a max player without letting Harris go.
As things stand entering the offseason, the Magic have $59.8 million guaranteed toward next season. If the Magic take Jonathan Isaac’s contract as guaranteed and keep Markelle Fultz (a safe bet), that adds $24.8 million (both Fultz and Isaac have some guarantees on their deals).
Before dealing with Harris or the two draft picks, the Magic are at $84.6 million. The two draft picks if they land at No. 6 and No. 12 as expected would add $10.5 million. That would leave the Magic with $95.1 million on their cap sheet entering the offseason.
The salary cap is expected to come down at $134 million. That leaves the Magic with roughly $38.9 million in cap room before Harris’ contract becomes guaranteed.
Harris would eat up $13 million of that. So the Magic should be in the neighborhood of $25.9 million in cap room even if they retain Harris.
If Orlando is going to chase after a max free agent like VanVleet, they will signal that by letting Harris go into free agency themselves and waiving the final year of his contract. They could also be signaling their willingness to eat more salary in a trade. That option will always be there if the Magic are planning to be active on the trade market.
It is indeed a summer of possibility.
2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Calendar
July 7-17: NBA Summer League
Aug. 25-Sept. 10: FIBA World Cup
The basketball is over for now for the Orlando Magic. And the league is continuing with the playoffs. But we will see Magic players on the court well before the team gathers again in October.
Summer League will be the first taste of Magic basketball for the 2024 season.
We should expect to see the Magic’s rookies play along with Caleb Houstan and perhaps the Magic’s two-way players in Kevon Harris and Jay Scrubb. Do not expect to see Paolo Banchero though. He does not need Summer League and there really will not be many benefits to putting Banchero in Summer League.
There are of course still opportunities to see Banchero play this offseason. That may be at the Craws-Over and some of the pro-ams that go on throughout July. It could be at the FIBA World Cup this summer.
The World Cup will be a busy time for the Magic.
Moe Wagner has already committed to playing for Germany in the World Cup. Goga Bitadze has expressed his excitement about playing for Georgia in the World Cup. Bol Bol has a sitting invite to play for South Sudan in their debut at the competition.
Franz Wagner will likely suit up with Germany again to build on the bronze medal he helped Germany win at EuroBasket last year.
And then there is Banchero.
Banchero has been asked throughout the year whether he will play with Italy. He has secured Italian citizenship and could very well play for Italy in EuroBasket. He has not committed to it yet.
The point is there will be plenty of basketball to watch.
Also on the horizon for the Magic is the October deadline for extensions with both Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony extension eligible this offseason. And the Magic have at least tentatively set the start of training camp for October 3.
It will be here before you know it.