Ranking the Orlando Magic’s 5 most valuable trade assets for 2023/24

The Orlando Magic’s offseason is only just getting started. But already there is a sense this is an extremely important one in their quest to be a playoff level team as soon as next season.

The front office made the correct call in selecting Paolo Banchero first overall last summer, and preceded that with the inspired selection of Franz Wagner the year before with the eighth pick.

We already know they won the Nikola Vucevic trade (although potentially taking him back this summer as he is an unrestricted free agent is another matter) with the Chicago Bulls, which means this front office has made several big and correct calls in recent years.

Which has led the organization to where they are now, with budding stars and a whole host of valuable trade assets for them to use at the negotiating table.

It is those assets that have quietly amassed as the Magic have sought to become a better team on the court, and which will be crucial in helping them take the next step through trades in the future.

In trying to decipher the Magic’s five best trade assets ahead of next season, we have made the exercise harder by not including Banchero and Wagner. Both because they are obviously the top two assets, and because neither of them should be on the table in any proposed deal right now.

Ranking the Orlando Magic’s 5 most valuable trade assets for 2024.

5. Jalen Suggs

Depending on your viewpoint here, it is either a massive positive that Jalen Suggs is on this list at all after a sophomore outing in which he steadied the ship, or else it is concerning that the Orlando Magic have no better assets to go on this list in his place.

Nevertheless, Suggs deserves to be here because he has rehabbed his trade value, and in doing so has given other organizations around the league a clearer view into what he can be in the NBA in the near future.

Suggs saw his points, rebounds and assists decrease on what were already some pretty pedestrian rookie numbers in his second season. But he managed to stay relatively healthy and appeared in 53 games after a slow start to the season.

During that time he came off the bench more off than not (only 19 starts), and proved to be the Magic’s best on-ball defender at the guard position. That should not go unnoticed as Markelle Fultz is also an above average defender and Cole Anthony always plays with a ton of heart.

For playoff teams around the league, Suggs would be an excellent addition off the bench and whose defensive ability already would have a use in the postseason.

Offensively he is not giving you much right now. But there is hope he can become a “3-and-D” guard type in the near future.

The Magic are obviously under no obligation to move Suggs on, and he remains part of the future there. But with two potential lottery picks coming this summer, and whoever else may come to Florida through free agency or the draft, the fact Suggs has value around the league is a plus.

Ranking the Orlando Magic’s 5 most valuable trade assets for 2024.

4. Their first round pick this year

It may be that this pick rises up the list once the NBA Lottery takes place next week, but for now it remains the Orlando Magic’s fourth best trade asset. It is most likely to equate to the sixth pick in this year’s draft, and that is an enticing place to be for all manner of organizations.

Another franchise may wish to trade up to take somebody they love, or else the Magic could make a selection for another team knowing a trade is going to follow it. Perhaps the Magic take a player they like, such as Gradey Dick, and then get talked into a trade they did not see coming?

If this pick somehow defies the odds and becomes the first overall selection, it automatically becomes priceless. That means Victor Wembanyama is coming to town, and the direction of the Magic is altered in a way we have never seen before.

But even if it manages to jump to the third slot, that means they could take one of Brandon Miller or Scoot Henderson. Two players who most believe have All-Star level talent at the very minimum.

The only reason this pick is not higher is because its final resting place in this year’s draft is still not known, and it is also not a draft class that is being spoken about as one of the all-time great classes that will be entering the league.

But if the Magic decide to make some all in moves this summer, then having this pick as other organizations who don’t land their top draft selections or free agents become desperate is a position of strength, and an underrated bargaining chip to have in the back pocket.

Ranking the Orlando Magic’s 5 most valuable trade assets for 2024.

3. Wendell Carter

It speaks volumes that Wendell Carter was recently spoken about as a player who the Phoenix Suns would trade DeAndre Ayton for on The Bill Simmons Podcast . . .  and it was agreed the Suns would end up with the better player when you factor in contract and fit.

That is just how quickly Carter has ascended through the ranks of centers in the league, and how much he would be in demand if the Magic decided to trade him.

Still only 24 years  old, Carter had the best defensive season of his young career while shooting a career high 35.6 percent from deep.

Adding 15.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game was valuable to the team, and in getting to the free-throw line 3.4 times per contest, he kept right in line with his career averages in this area. Carter Jr. is becoming a better shooting from outside the paint, yet is still driving as he has before.

Equally as important, the four-year, $50 million deal that Carter signed with the Magic is not only entering just its second year next season, but it is constructed in such a way that it decreases in value over time.

A deal like that is so enticing to other franchises, and it would make Carter extremely easy to move if the Magic decided to do so. The fact he is under contract for three more seasons beginning next year would also allow another team to confidently build him into their vision.

There is really nothing to not like about Carter Jr. as a player and as a trade asset. He is young, defends the indefensible, is definitely going to get better on both ends of the court and is barely noticeable when it comes to the cap sheet. A complete win for the front office and model asset to have.

Ranking the Orlando Magic’s 5 most valuable trade assets for 2024.

2. All of their future first round picks

What is better than the Orlando Magic’s first round pick this summer? How about all of their remaining picks for the decade.

We know the organization cannot just trade them all in one go as part of a mega deal, and would have to do something like three firsts and then pick swaps in alternate years.

But the fact they have all of these picks at all is such a position of strength for the Magic to be in. It means that if the next disgruntled superstar like Luka Doncic becomes available, that the Magic can offer as many first round picks and swaps as the Mavericks as for.

They would then have to add Wendell Carter and Jalen Suggs as well at the very least, and while that would decimate this list, the name of the game in the NBA is to get a superstar. Doncic is among the best there is today, and he would change everything for the Magic.

Having all of these picks, and being able to go in different directions with them this summer if needed, is about as enviable a position as a team can be in as they look to take that next step forward.

Thanks to some shrewd moves from the front office, they have acquired players with legitimate star power in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, and have been able to keep their war chest of picks intact in the process. In a bidding war for a star, few can match the Magic for picks alone.

Ranking the Orlando Magic’s 5 most valuable trade assets for 2024.

1. Markelle Fultz

The redemption arc of point guard Markelle Fultz was completed earlier this season. But topping this list is just the icing on the cake. Who would have ever thought we would be here, with Fultz now not only a better asset than former teammate Ben Simmons, but the best the Magic have.

They have no interest in giving up on him, and like most players on the Magic’s roster he is still so young at 25. He runs the show like nobody else on their team, and would be an upgrade over many of the starting floor generals in the league today. There is still such an amount of upside.

Much like Wendell Carter, Markelle Fultz’s play is not the only reason he is on this list. It is true he is becoming a defensive menace with how he reads the game, and the shooting continues to come on slowly, but surely.

The 31 percent he managed from deep on 1.5 attempts per game this season was a low number, but it was also a career high and showed a willingness to continue to improve in this important area. 14 points and 5.7 assists were also career highs.

But much like Chris Paul before him, lofty as that comparison is, to watch the Magic play is to know they are a better team when Fultz is on the court. He does so many things for the group that just cannot be quantified, and which many opposing teams would love to have on their side.

Fultz is entering the final year of his current three-year, $50 million contract next season, but because of his history, the deal is partially guaranteed.

It seems highly likely the Magic will bring him back on another deal once this one is up, but there are other organizations out there who may also realize that Fultz is all the way back now, and he’s going to get a lot better in the coming seasons.