The Orlando Magic probably feel comfortable with four of their five starters. At least, if the team still believes it is a development outfit.
The combination of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter and Markelle Fultz feel like the core starters the team is building around. Everyone around the league anticipates the team looking to bolster the shooting guard position — thus the persistent rumors about players like Fred VanVleet, Jordan Poole and even Anfernee Simons.
Those are the big moves that could be out there if the Magic are looking to push some chips into the middle of the table.
Knowing this front office, they seem more likely to focus their offseason on shoring up depth. And that is truly a big need for the Magic even with solid bench options in Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs in two and several young players worth exploring like Caleb Houstan and Jonathan Isaac.
The Magic though have a concern they must address in a real way if they are truly determined to make the playoffs next season: Their backup center position.
The Orlando Magic’s biggest immediate positional need might be at backup center where the team has a lot of questions for how best to support and cover for Wendell Carter.
Carter is a solid option. He does a lot of the high-post decision-making the Magic want to see from the center in addition to his solid screening, shooting and rebounding that comes from him.
But he has not played more than 62 games in any season of his career. He played in only 57 games last year.
As things go, the Magic have to account for Carter missing 15-20 games if not more this season. That is not to say he will miss that time. But the Magic need to plan for it.
They flipped between Mo Bamba and Moe Wagner as the backup center last year and then Goga Bitadze after they dealt Bamba to the Los Angeles Lakers. While both Wagner and Bitadze had their moments and were admirable, this is an area where the Magic could use an upgrade since they need a starter-capable center at that spot.
While shooting is certainly the biggest skill need for this roster. Center and frontcourt depth might be the biggest positional need for the Magic this offseason. If they are looking to make trades or looking to spend big money on free agency, using it here could very well be the best use of their cap space this offseason.
The Magic might be able to cover the wing positions with internal growth from players like Jonathan Isaac, Chuma Okeke and Caleb Houstan along with the versatility on the roster. There may not be any players who could take a big step up making backup center perhaps the biggest need this offseason.
2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Needs: Backup Center
The Incumbents
Knowing this front office, their preference always seems to trend toward stability and continuity. Perhaps to some frustration.
And so consideration needs to be given to the incumbents on the roster in Moe Wagner and Goga Bitadze. They both are coming off fantastic seasons last year where they played their roles well and admirably for the team. They did exactly what was asked of them and excelled where they are strong.
Wagner is coming off a season where he averaged 10.5 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game. He was a supremely reliable offensive big, able to score on the low block and step out and hit from the outside. He also served at times as the Magic’s irritant, helping set a never-back-down attitude among the team.
Wagner’s biggest weakness is his rim protection, however. According to data from Second Spectrum, Wagner gave up 75.5 percent shooting at the rim, the worst mark among centers who played at least 50 games this season.
If the margin for error to make the postseason is going to be small for the Magic, it is hard to imagine the Magic relying on that in the playoffs, let alone surviving that for 15-20 games this season. Wagner’s contract is only partially guaranteed for next season, becoming fully guaranteed on June 30.
Bitadze seemingly offers the opposite problem.
He quickly established himself this past year as a solid defender and rim protector for Orlando — opponents shot 52.5 percent at the rim against him according to Second Spectrum. His offensive game is a little bit more basic, but he could score on a healthy diet of putbacks and his outside shot is still developing.
Of course, Bitadze was only around for 17 games. Is that enough of a sample to draw any conclusions or make that full investment? The Magic have a club option for him this summer.
That makes both him and Wagner cheap options to consider to fill the backup center role. They both were able to tag team it after the trade deadline fairly effectively with Jamahl Mosley seemingly picking one each game and going with it for however long it would last or based on what the team needed in that moment and that game.
But it still feels like the team could use an upgrade at this spot.
2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Needs: Backup Center
Draft Options
The bad news for the Orlando Magic perhaps is that this draft does not have a lot in the ways of solid backup center options.
Yes, Victor Wembanyama is the prize of this draft and the likely No. 1 pick at 7-foot-5. But after him, there are just not a lot of big bodies to throw out there that can play the center role as the league envisions.
Certainly, Orlando could look at a few center-adjacent options.
Jarace Walker plays like a center with his screening, defense and rebounding abilities. But he may take a while to offer more offensively than putbacks and short jumpers. He certainly does not have an outside game and is very undersized listed at 6-foot-7.
Taylor Hendricks could provide support as a 6-foot-9 rim protector. That is one of the reasons he is considered a top-10 pick in this draft. He has good footwork to guard on the perimeter and rotate over to block shots with the size and strength to hold his own on the block.
But he too is undersized to be a center in the traditional sense, if that means anything.
The next best center option is Duke center Dereck Lively.
Lively had a largely disappointing season, averaging only 5.2 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game in 20.6 minutes per game. He started next to Kyle Filipowski which depressed some of his effectiveness around the basket. As did Duke’s uneven guard play this season.
Lively though has been shooting up draft boards. He has reportedly looked impressive in pre-draft workouts, even showing an impressive outside shot for the 7-foot-1 big man.
Lively was the No. 2 high school prospect in his class according to RSCI. That talent and evaluation cannot be that far off in such a short time. But a lot of it is so unproven because he did not show that all off in college.
The options after him get really scarce. The next best center is Barcelona center James Nnaji, a raw prospect who has not gotten a ton of playing time at this point but certainly has the athleticism to make it in the NBA. He is a likely second-round pick and would not be a crazy selection at No. 36.
Considering the Magic’s needs at backup center, they need someone they can rely on to start. Lively certainly has the talent. But beyond that, this is probably not the place to go hunting for help.
2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Needs: Backup Center
Naz Reid, Minnesota Timberwolves
The center options in free agency will also be similarly scant, especially for what the Magic are looking to get. And even the big money option will come with plenty of questions.
If Orlando feels like it needs to overspend some to secure this spot, then Naz Reid will be the target for the majority of the team’s empty cap space.
Reid definitely checks a lot of the boxes the Magic might be looking for from a backup center. And he could even be someone who gets more regular minutes in two-big lineups or bigger lineups that feature Franz Wagner at shooting guard — a lineup that will get increasing calls again as the Magic aim to play their five best players at all times.
Reid has made some very serious and encouraging strides as a player. He averaged 11.5 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game last season. He has been a fairly consistent 34-35 percent 3-point shooter, going in at 34.6 percent on 3.2 attempts per game. This is an ever-evolving part of his game.
But the rap on him dating back to his college days at LSU is that he is a big body who defends with energy. And that has indeed translated to the NBA.
Reid has had a positive defensive plus-minus in each of the past two years and accumulated more than 1.5 defensive win shares in that time period. But for the Timberwolves last year, the team had a 113.3 defensive rating with him on the floor, slightly worse than the team’s 113.1 season average.
He is a strong interior defender who gives up 1.7 percentage points worse at the rim than expected, according to Basketball-Index. He makes up for his lack of size with pure effort and toughness. That is something the Magic do need.
Reid puts a lot of pressure on the rim with his rolling and screening. But the full picture with him is not completely evident. He was still a part of many of Minnesota’s worst lineups last year.
That remains the big question. Especially as the Magic or any team tries to determine what to give him contract-wise. He is coming off a minimum contract and is due for a big pay raise — certainly to more than $10 million per year and likely closer to the $12-15 million per year range.
Reid is a perfect backup center who can make spot starts. It is just a question of whether this is where the team wants to put the bulk of its resources in free agency.
2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Needs: Backup Center
Nikola Vucevic, Chicago Bulls
A lot of Orlando Magic fans have been trying to put the bug in everyone’s ears for a potential reunion with the former Magic star. There are enough legs to it that there is a real debate among the fan base. It seems to have crept outside of Magic fandom.
That all may become moot with the reports he is working to get an extension done with the Chicago Bulls before he even hits free agency on July 1.
It is not even clear whether Vucevic is entering a new phase of his career.
He had a down year with the Bulls last year, averaging 17.6 points per game for the second straight year with 11.0 rebounds per game. He still shot a career-best 57.3 percent effective field goal percentage.
That down year might be more about playing a secondary role for the Bulls. Their offense focused on Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
Of course, the pressure to win brought back the concerns about Vucevic’s defense and his inability to do more than play drop coverage. And, at times, weak drop coverage.
Still, the Bulls were one of the better defenses in the league throughout the season averaging 111.5 points allowed per 100 possessions (112.8 with Vucevic on the floor, the second-worst mark on the team, but still better than the Magic’s season average last year, even after Dec. 7).
The question as it pertained to this potential reunion always came down to whether Vucevic would want to be the backup center. He was not likely to start over Wendell Carter whom the Magic are very well invested in.
It does not seem likely Vucevic is the kind of center the Magic are looking for — as skilled as he is and with as much nostalgia and experience he would bring to a very young roster. And it certainly does not seem like Vucevic would be eager to come off the bench in the kind of role Orlando would create for him.
Vucevic is 32 years old and is coming off a contract that paid him $22 million last year. It would appear this coming contract could be his last big payday. And he absolutely should protect himself.
It sounds like he is looking for a three-year deal, and it is hard to imagine he is not getting at least $60 million and probably more with it.
This always seemed like a pipe dream. The fact that it seemed to have some reality though goes to show how shallow this center free agency pool is.
Vucevic holds a lot of nostalgia. But this is probably not the time for a reunion.
2023 Orlando Magic Offseason Needs: Backup Center
Dwight Powell, Dallas Mavericks & Mason Plumlee, LA Clippers
The free agent big man pool starts to dry up pretty quickly after that. At least with guys whom the Orlando Magic might be able to attain.
The Magic are not likely to be able to pay the money Brook Lopez or Nikola Vucevic are looking for in their last big contracts — they also do not fit the team’s emphasis on versatility and mobility especially considering the team’s lack of outside shooting.
Naz Reid is a realistic target for sure. But he has his own detractions.
Jakob Poeltl is likely due to receive a big payday. Maybe the Magic invest in him. But he is clearly a starter and was a big factor for the Toronto Raptors. They seem determined to re-sign him after acquiring him at the deadline.
They could also chase after Kristaps Porzingis if he opts out of his contract (that would likely be for a bigger deal, so that may not work, especially considering his injury history). They could make a restricted free agency offer on P.J. Washington — he averaged 15.7 points per game last year but at 6-foot-7 is better suited as a power forward than as a center.
There are injury-prone centers like Thomas Bryant out there too. The Los Angeles Lakers traded him knowing they could not afford to retain him this offseason. But he is not even in the Denver Nuggets’ rotation this postseason.
The other two best options are Mason Plumlee and Dwight Powell. Neither of those players will exactly wow anybody. But they are serviceable backup big men who can be relied on for a spot start.
Powell is the more intriguing of the two because of his mobility around the basket. But both players are glorified rollers who will not do much more than that.
Powell averaged 6.7 points per game and grabbed 4.1 rebounds per game last year with 0.3 blocks per game. Plumlee averaged 10.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last year, including 7.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game after the trade to the LA Clippers.
Both players should command salaries just a bit north of the mid-level exception, perhaps around $10-12 million.
But both of these players are extremely limiting. But so are the options.
As you can tell, this is a critical need for the Magic and one that might not be so easily solved in free agency. They could look to trades to make this happen. It is still too hard to guess what players might become available in a trade.
But this is a big need and the options for the Magic are limited.