3 players going home from Playoffs the Orlando Magic should target

As the Orlando Magic sit at home and plot their future, the postseason race is heating up, with teams falling out of contention at a rapid rate as the playoffs move on to the conference semifinals.

The inability of the Milwaukee Bucks to get past the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers falling in five games to the New York Knicks being two outcomes nobody saw happening. It is going to bring a lot of change to the league as these teams assess what went wrong and plot their futures forward.

For organizations with lofty ambitions who fall at the first hurdle, serious questions are then asked about what direction they are going in.

And this is where the Orlando Magic are hunting as they think about how to improve their tam. They are surely watching and assessing which teams may think they have hit their peak and need to start over or which teams are set to retool and are open to making some deals.

This uncertainty and need to be seen to shake things up for their fanbase is an area the Orlando Magic can exploit, and they should be looking at doing so already.

A bona fide contender like the Bucks, as well as up and coming outfits like the Cavaliers who have all of the tools to be successful, can often panic in a bid to get better. Especially after expending a ton of resources to get to this point, only to fall short.

So whether it is through an advantageous trade, or by swooping in if another franchise lets them walk, the Magic will find themselves in a position this summer to pick up several players who could really help to accelerate their future.

3 eliminated players the Orlando Magic should eyeing

3. Pat Connaughton, Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks had the most surprising early playoff exit in recent memory on Wednesday night, becoming only the sixth team in NBA history to lose in the first round to an 8-seed. Worse still, they became the first team to lose to a team that qualified for the playoffs through the Play-In Tournament.

Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was as animated as anybody has ever seen him during the postgame press conference. And you can be sure changes are coming for the Bucks this summer. after they fell in the first round despite posting the league’s best record.

Pat Connaughton is one such player who may be squeezed out.

During the series against the Miami Heat, he found himself on the fringes of the rotation seeing the court for just 88 minutes total.

If Connaughton is not deemed up to it for the Bucks when the going gets tough, why then would the Magic want him?

At 31 years old, Connaughton is making roughly $9 million for the next two seasons (the second year is a player option). As a shooting guard, he could also fill the only spot, both as a starter or off the bench, that appears open on the Magic’s roster right now.

Gary Harris is still on the team, but Pat Connaughton would represent a cheaper alternative who has won a championship and at his best can average nearly 40 percent from 3-point range for a season.

This is not a seismic move, but we are not here to talk about trying to acquire a Luka Doncic-type player. The Magic may not be ready to push all their chips in. They are more likely to look to add quality depth to support their growing young core.

Connaughton would help around the fringes, with the Magic ranking 26th in offensive rating (111.3 points per 100 possessions) and 24th in 3-point shooting (34.6 percent) during the regular season.

Connaughton would be a solid spacer and role player who can give the team some needed postseason experience and calm as they attack their next steps.

3 eliminated players the Orlando Magic should eyeing

2. Ricky Rubio, Cleveland Cavaliers

Adding point guard Ricky Rubio is a move that makes a lot of sense for the Orlando Magic. During the Cleveland Cavaliers’ series loss to the New York Knicks, he only played a measly 17 minutes.

This means Rubio is surely available at a low price in a trade. Really it is sad that a player of his talent has only ever appeared in three playoff series because of injury and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Still, Rubio would be the perfect backup during the regular season to Markelle Fultz, and then could be left out of the rotation completely should they make it to the playoffs. He would give the team a veteran point guard to help grow their young players too. By all accounts, he is a great teammate.

You might argue Cole Anthony is the Magic’s backup currently, and that is correct. But Anthony can also fill a sixth-man role, while Rubio would be the calm head directing traffic and making passes and plays for others.

His experience would also be beneficial to have around Fultz, another player who has had his fair share of injuries and who, like Rubio, does not rely solely on athleticism.

Making only $6 million for the next two seasons, Rubio would cost little to get, and would not negatively impact the Magic’s healthy cap sheet either.

As the roster moves into the next phase and tries to get to the playoffs and win a series, having veteran heads in key positions will be important. Rubio cheaply ticks those boxes.

3 eliminated players the Orlando Magic should eyeing

1. Yuta Watanabe, Brooklyn Nets

Yuta Watanabe is the perfect player for the Orlando Magic to pursue this summer to fill out their improving rotation with a solid role player who will provide some of what they are sorely lacking.

To begin with, Watanabe is an unrestricted free agent, meaning the Magic would not have to give up anything to acquire him.

For those out there who see this as a negative as it would involve eating into cap space because Watanabe is going to get a decent deal after the year he had, remember that free agents do not climb over one another to come to Florida.

That will come back again one day, as Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner improve. But for right now, Watanabe is the kind of below-the-radar move that would really pay off.

They could easily fit him into their cap sheet and may not even be the big acquisition of the summer. That is a huge benefit to a team that needs shooting. Watanabe would be a perfect role player.

At one point during the season Watanabe led the league in made corner 3-pointers, and shot a ridiculous 44.4 percent on 2.3 attempts from deep per night.

Even if he were to come off the bench, Watanabe would be like a bigger, better version of adding Connaughton to this roster, and he would likely come at a similar price as well.