The offseason activity period is essentially over.
Players are taking their vacations, working out on their own, playing Pro-Am games and leagues or getting ready for the FIBA World Cup (in that case, their seasons kind of start early). The offseason activity period is over, even as the league awaits the Damian Lillard decision.
For the Orlando Magic, it was a fairly quiet offseason once again.
Even though the Magic had extensive cap room to spend, they largely focused on retaining their own players. This is largely the same roster as last year.
Yes, there are three new players in — Anthony Black, Jett Howard and Joe Ingles — and two players out — Michael Carter-Williams and Bol Bol (Admiral Schofield was knocked back down to a two-way contract).
On that fact alone, it seems like the Magic improved. They added two rookie players who project to be part of the rotation in some form or fashion plus a veteran rotation player and lost two players who were not part of the rotation at the end of the season.
This Orlando team feels deeper and adds a year of experience under its belt. That will hopefully put the Magic in a position to take the step up to the postseason.
The Orlando Magic seemed like they improved this offseason with some key additions. But by favoring stability and the long-term, the team has not filled every need this offseason to take that next step.
Still, it feels like there were a few things left on the table. There were a few issues left unresolved.
Orlando opted to retain its two backup centers instead of upgrading the position. With Wendell Carter’s injury history, that seemed to be a bit of a risk.
Further, the team seemed to put all of its focus on shoring up the perimeter and left their power forward position a bit exposed if Jonathan Isaac continues to have his injury issues.
This was a good off-season for the Magic. But perhaps not the best.
Then again, maybe the Magic did not need a perfect offseason. Maybe the Magic just needed to shore up depth — and they certainly did that, they will not get caught without a point guard — and keep allowing their young players to grow internally.
Orlando’s best growth this season was always going to come from internal growth and development. And the team seems more concerned with giving their young players a clear runway to grow and lead the team. Orlando was not going to impede progress.
This is a better roster without a doubt, but there are still holes to fill.
The season itself is likely more about taking that next step to the postseason. The Magic were likely more interested in maintaining flexibility so that they can begin adding players who better fit the direction they will learn they need to go.
This roster may provide them the flexibility to try out a few things.
We are yet to know what will turn up this season. But for now, we can evaluate what the Magic did and think about what that means and what holes that still might expose as the team tries to make the postseason next year.
Orlando Magic Offseason Grades (Early Edition)
Contract Guarantees
The Orlando Magic’s offseason really started with decisions over guaranteeing several contracts. This we all knew would be the first clue as to whether the Magic were planning something big for free agency and the offseason. But we all anticipated the team would keep these players.
It did not make too much sense for the Magic to go all-in on a weak free-agent class. Or to sign Fred VanVleet for $40 million and gut the team’s depth.
The decision to retain a lot of the Magic’s personnel that were on non-guaranteed deals or team options were pretty simple. They were mostly impact players who had a role on last year’s team and would make life easier for the team moving forward.
The easiest decision among the bunch was guaranteeing the final year of Markelle Fultz’s three-year contract extension. Fultz signed that deal just a few weeks before he suffered a torn ACL during the 2021 season. That put a halt to a comeback story everyone was eager to see.
It also meant he lost a full season of his new deal, only returning after the All-Star Break in 2022. And then a toe injury just before training camp took away a quarter of another.
But when Fultz got up to speed, he started to look like the player who earned the top pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
He averaged a career-high 14.0 points per game and 5.7 assists per game. He started showing a return of his athleticism with some impressive dunks and even started shooting a bit more from beyond the arc.
To say the least, Fultz is one of the quietest stories in the NBA. And the Magic have every reason to believe he is going to keep on this upward trajectory.
The bigger question in retaining Fultz and the final year salary of $17 million is whether they will extend his contract and keep him around a little longer.
Similar to Markelle Fultz, it was just hard to believe the Orlando Magic would break up too much of their core. Gary Harris was a bit more touch-and-go with the potential of clearing up the extra $13 million for offseason spending.
But ultimately it made far more sense to keep Harris for the final year of his deal.
Harris was the regular starter for the Magic at shooting guard and one of the best shooters on the team, making 43.1 percent of his 3-pointers. That is something the Magic obviously should value and his floor spacing and veteran know-how are really important for such a young team.
Still, Harris’ clock is ticking.
Jalen Suggs certainly has more upside and the potential to take over the spot with the defensive disruption he brings. It just comes down to shooting for him as the Magic desperately need floor spacers in that starting group.
Harris also continues to struggle with injuries. He played in only 48 games last season. So while the Magic need someone who does not need the ball in his hands often — and a way to get him the ball more with better passing — Harris has to be on the floor more to get his full effect.
In either case, this may well be his last season with the Magic as they look to open that spot more for younger players on the roster. Or flat-out improve the shooting guard spot moving forward.
Orlando Magic Offseason Grades (Early Edition)
Option Decisions
In addition to contracts the Magic needed to guarantee, they had a few options they had to decide and another big contract guarantee they extended before making the decision to part ways.
This Magic team is largely the same as last year, and so these decisions largely worked to keep players in the fold. But it also worked to clear up some lower-level salaries and set up the Magic for their spending in free agency.
Nobody really knew what to make of Goga Bitadze when the Orlando Magic picked him up in free agency. He was a former first-round pick who struggled to find his place with the Indiana Pacers. He just did not really click with what they were doing and he struggled to find consistency on top of that.
Bitadze arrived in Orlando and seemingly immediately made an impact. He averaged 5.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 17 appearances with the Magic to end the season. Bitadze quickly took over the backup center minutes too as the Magic wanted to keep his energy on the court.
That kept building too statistically. His defensive impact was pretty clear even if he still had a limited offensive game. The Magic had a 104.8 defensive rating with Bitadze on the floor, the best mark for any player on the team.
That made Bitadze seemingly really valuable to give the team a better interior presence. It felt like an easy choice to bring Bitadze back at his cheaper number, especially since he seemingly supplanted Moe Wagner for most of those backup center minutes by the end of the season.
Whether the Magic could rely on him as a starter for when Wendell Carter is out was another question. But Bitadze seemed like a player worth keeping around a little longer.
On one hand, the Orlando Magic do not seem like they should quite be in the business of giving up on young players.
And Bol Bol showed a lot of promise through the course of the season. This was essentially his rookie season after he struggled to find development time in Denver. And he took advantage of it averaging 9.1 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game.
On the other hand, Bol’s play really tailed off toward the end of the season. He fell out of the rotation. And while he was an excellent shot blocker and scorer, he struggled when the game slowed down. Teams were able to target him on both ends and he struggled to adjust as the league adjusted to him.
That is probably why the Magic ultimately parted with him. They do not have the space to keep waiting for his development as more young players filled in and the team’s ambitions grew.
Still, Bol is a talented player. The team needs some help and forward depth. Keeping Bol around would not have been the worst thing for the team.
But he became a victim of a roster crunch and an easily waivable contract that saved the Magic a ton of money (over waiving Chuma Okeke, for instance).
The Orlando Magic seemingly signed Admiral Schofield up from a two-way contract to a full roster contract last year as a favor and reward for his service. Schofield was solid for the Magic last year especially considering the injuries the team faced. He played his role well.
But it definitely felt like he had graduated from a two-way contract. So declining his team option to create the extra roster space was warranted.
The surprise came later in the offseason when the Magic brought Schofield back for another run as a two-way player.
For the Magic, this is a great thing because Schofield is a high-level G-League player who can contribute well in the NBA in this two-way slot. For Schofield, he probably should be seeking a more permanent home in the NBA rather than splitting time in the G-League.
Michael Carter-Williams made a quick four-game cameo at the end of the season last year. Really his signing was to bring back a familiar veteran voice in the locker room — someone whom a lot of the players knew and trusted well. Carter-Williams was never meant to stick. And so it was no surprise the team let him go early in the offseason.
Orlando Magic Offseason Grades (Early Edition)
The Draft Picks
The Orlando Magic entered this year’s draft with two Lottery picks. That was obviously a huge opportunity for the team to add some top-end talent. Even with just the sixth and 11th picks, Magic fans were eager to see the team add some quality players.
Still, this is a Magic team that has a lot of pieces in place. They did not need to hit a home run or draft their star in this draft, but they needed to supplement their roster in a meaningful way.
Did the Magic do this? They certainly filled at least one critical need in adding one of the best shooters in the draft, although not the one everyone suspected.
It was hard to find a perfect fit for the Magic. There may not have been an “A+” draft unless other teams did things earlier that worked in their favor. So they stuck to their principles and selected talent in the way the Magic can.
Everyone came to the realization the Orlando Magic were going to take Anthony Black in the days leading up to the draft. There was just a lot about him that the Magic typically like that they could not ignore.
He is a 6-foot-7 ball handler, showing the skill and positional versatility the Magic typically like. He is an extremely smart player and an aggressive defender to boot.
That was all on display at Summer League where he successfully led the team, played great defense, especially on the NBA-level players, and seemingly controlled the pace of every game he was in.
Black checks a lot of boxes. But there are a lot of questions still to answer.
His shooting remains a huge concern. He was not a great shooter at Arkansas and that carried over in Summer League where he was a bit all over the place and sometimes even hesitant to shoot.
And then there is the concern about adding another ball handler to the team.
The Magic already have Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony to handle the point guard minutes. Is there a clear path — or runway as Jeff Weltman likes to put it — for Black to get playing time? Is Black just insurance in case Suggs does not work out or the team decides to part with Fultz or Anthony in next year’s free agency?
That is not the worst thing in the world, obviously. A team can only take what the draft gives them and it is hard to argue that Black was not one of the better options available to the Magic. But it is hard to imagine the team going with another non-shooting point guard long-term.
That is inherently limiting. And that is probably a question that needs to keep hovering in the background moving forward.
Everyone was surprised when the Orlando Magic made Jett Howard the 11th pick in the draft. Very few people had him high on their draft boards. And for a decent reason as he struggled with his defense and doing much else during his time at Michigan.
It is hard to throw all of that away as that is such a big weight in his draft profile. Who knows if that will come back when he reaches the NBA. Even if it was because of an ankle injury — Jeff Weltman acknowledged the team went back and did a re-scout of the first half of his season.
Still, there is no denying Orlando needed to get shooting out of this draft class. It was essential the Magic come away from this draft with a shooter. And no matter who you preferred, most Magic fans probably would have been satisfied to some degree by selecting Gradey Dick, Jordan Hawkins or Jett Howard, although the former two were certainly talked about more.
Ultimately the Magic seemed to prefer the size and playmaking potential from Howard. At 6-foot-8, Howard is bigger than the other two players the Magic were likely considering. He showed in Summer League some ability to attack off the dribble that he can further develop.
It will still be a long road to get him there. And he has to prove that his Michigan season was more about his injury than any inherent flaw.
That is the big question for Howard and ultimately this Magic draft class.
Orlando Magic Offseason Grades (Early Edition)
Free Agency
The Orlando Magic entered the offseason as one of the few teams with significant cap room. Even with the players they were expected to retain from their roster with non-guaranteed deals, the Magic entered the summer with nearly $25 million in cap room to spend.
Nobody expected the Magic to use all of it. Orlando was always expected to have a quiet offseason. Still, it was important to add a few players, especially to add some veteran players.
The Magic did this by adding a skilled shooting forward to their team who will give the team some much-needed experience and veteran know-how to the roster.
The Orlando Magic was kind of the surprise destination for Joe Ingles. A lot of us had figured the Magic would focus on adding some forward and frontcourt depth, especially after spending both draft picks on backcourt players and guards.
Still, the Ingles news was a welcomed one. He represents a veteran who is almost universally respected around the league. On top of this, he is one of the absolute best spot-up and 3-point shooters in the league. He gives the Magic offense a potentially new element.
Last year, Ingles averaged 6.9 points per game and shot 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. That was his first year back too from a torn ACL.
Granted, Ingles will be entering his year 36 season. That makes him considerably older than most of the players on the team. It also makes it more likely that Ingles may not recover his pre-ACL injury form — he averaged 12.1 points per game and shot 45.1 percent from deep with the Utah Jazz in the 2021 season and was injured in the 2022 season.
Further, Ingles slides in as a forward on a team that is suddenly loaded with smallish forwards. There is the chance the Magic feel comfortable playing INgles some at power forward in smaller lineups. But his presence is a potential impediment to Anthony Black and Jett Howard getting consistent time.
The contract value is not super important either. Orlando is certainly overpaying Ingles at $11 million per year. But the second year of that contract is a team option. So if things do not work out or if the Magic need the money for any reason, this is a low-risk contract with potentially big dividends.
Similar to Joe Ingles, the Orlando Magic certainly overpaid some to retain Moe Wagner’s services. Orlando simply had money to spend and a requirement the team spend to reach the payroll floor.
On that front, the Magic kept their flexibility with Wagner too with the second year of his deal non-guaranteed (although it is not clear whether it is a team option or simply a non-guaranteed deal).
The Magic are playing with funny money for at least a little while longer. So these amounts are unimportant as long as the team has flexibility to get in and out of them.
Retaining Wagner seemed more about familiarity than anything else. And that is the part that does not sit right with me — especially with how critical the backup center role might end up being for the Magic.
It is not that Wagner has not earned that trust. He has after a career season where he averaged 10.5 points per game. Wagner knows what is expected of him and how to perform it. Wagner is not a bad player at all.
But there are some clear weaknesses.
Wagner had the worst field goal percentage defended at the rim among regularly playing centers in the league last year. He draws a lot of charges, leading the Magic in charges, but he is not a rim protector by any measure.
This seemed like a place the Magic could have sought an upgrade. Not just to mix things up for the sake of mixing things up. They needed a quality backup center since Wendell Carter has never played more than 62 games in any season of his career.
Orlando needed to plan on Carter missing at least 15 games this season. Maybe the Magic are indeed comfortable with the duo of Moe Wagner and Goga Bitadze manning those areas. But it seems like that is a risk not worth taking.
As was the risk of relying on Joe Ingles and Jonathan Isaac to handle the bench power forward minutes. It just felt like the team favored stability over filling in some immediate needs to set up their season.
Orlando Magic Offseason Grades (Early Edition)
Final Grade
What did the Orlando Magic need to accomplish this offseason?
That is obviously a complicated question.
On one hand, the goal is obviously to get better positioned for the postseason. The team needed to build off its successes from the 2023 season and try to punch through and get to the postseason in 2024.
Inarguably, the Magic got better. They only lost players who were out of the rotation anyway and added two key rookies and a good veteran shooter. That should give the team more depth and ability to compete this year. If injuries hit, the Magic will be in a better position to withstand it.
On this plane then, the Magic did accomplish these goals. But they also left themselves a bit exposed. They missed opportunities to shore up the roster’s frontcourt and did not account for every injury they could face.
The lack of frontcourt depth will lead to some creativity with how the team constructs its lineups. That part is at least good. But it feels like a weak spot on the team.
On the other hand, the goal for this offseason was also to stay out of the way of the growth of this team. The Magic favored stability and consistency to create the same nurturing growth environments for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to stay on their current trajectories.
That meant the Magic were not going to be interested in huge signings to clog up or change the dynamics that allowed their young stars to play and make mistakes and lead last year.
Internal development was always going to be the best path for this team to improve. This year is about seeing just how much.
And so the changes made were adding two draft picks and adding a veteran to keep stability and add experience to the roster.
Orlando could have perhaps better balanced these two needs a bit more and addressed some short-term needs and upgrades with the balance for long-term thinking, development and flexibility.
Overall, though, the Magic got the job done and enter the season with a better roster and one that is in a better position to reach the postseason. Even if they did not accomplish every goal on the board.