The Orlando Magic are coming.
Everyone seems to recognize this young Magic team has a lot going for them. Paolo Banchero is a star in the making and already getting recognized by the elite forwards in the league, not to mention the elder players of his hometown in Seattle. Franz Wagner continues to turn heads with his international play.
And that does not get into the young players that dot the roster that seem poised to take steps forward for the team.
Even the national media is starting to take notice. Nobody is ready to go all-in on the Magic being the team to beat in the Eastern Conference or a fast riser, but everyone from the betting lines to ESPN are willing to say they will be in the running for the Play-In Tournament — even if the betting lines put the Magic’s over/under at 36.5 and ESPN has the Magic at 38 wins.
It should be a fun season for Orlando one way or another with the team poised to take that next step.
The Orlando Magic are clearly one of the teams on the rise throughout the Eastern Conference. The matchups that matter are the ones that will be must-see TV sooner than later.
Of course, the Magic’s national TV schedule would not suggest they are one of those teams on the rise. When the schedule came out last week, the Magic received only five national TV appearances and four of them were on NBATV.
The team can look forward to a TNT home game at least against the Oklahoma City Thunder in February, even if it is a Tuesday TNT game.
The Magic really are not alone among the young teams eager to take over the league with LeBron James and Stephen Curry entering the twilight of their careers who are not going to find themselves on national TV. There are future stars in this league who are eager to take that next step who might be doing it in anonymity.
After all, even the Denver Nuggets seemed to catch the wider world by surprise when they made their run to the title last year. That is neither here nor there though. We can debate how the NBA makes their national TV schedules another day.
Today is the day to think about the matchups the Magic will face that one day could be playoff battles and more. Who are the teams and the stars that will make up the league and become the Magic’s rivals as they too make their way up the standings? What are the games that could be the seedlings for the Eastern Conference’s future?
Those are the games we want to highlight today. These are the games that are must-see TV now and will be must-see TV for years to come.
5 Orlando Magic matchups that will one day be must-see TV
Oklahoma City Thunder
Jan. 13 at Oklahoma City (8P)
Feb. 13 at Orlando (7P/TNT)
The NBA has at least tried to feature the Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder against each other before, putting an early November matchup between the top two picks from the 2022 Draft. Despite how early in the season that game took place, Chet Holmgren’s injury in Summer League eventually led TNT to pull the game from their broadcast.
Never mind, they missed an actually exciting game. The Magic held a double-digit lead and lost it behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s brilliance in the opening salvo of what was an All-NBA season for the young guard.
Never mind then too that not only did the league miss out on Gilgeous-Alexander but a Thunder team that surprised everyone and reached the Play-In Tournament.
The reward for all of that for the Thunder? A measly 13 national TV appearances this season. You would think the Thunder are the exact kind of team the league should be investing in growing. Especially with the potential unique qualities that Holmgren possesses.
Only time will tell if the NBA keeps the Magic’s home game just before the All-Star Break with the Thunder on national TV. It will be a big moment for the Magic to get their first home national TV game since LeBron James was on the Miami Heat.
The Magic and the Thunder are not in the same conference and so their matchups will be limited, but this should be a fun comparison and rivalry for years to come.
Both young teams are run by patient general managers who believe in growing their groups internally before striking big. They are not skipping any steps along the way and have seen their teams make progress year by year.
The Thunder are maybe a year “ahead” of the Magic in terms of their development and the Magic would love to see themselves copy what the Thunder did last year in terms of the breakthrough to the playoffs.
Both teams love their use of length too as they both seem set to usher in the era that values length and versatility — Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are both certainly oversized guards if the Magic love their playmaking forwards in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
The Magic and Thunder will always be a quietly fun game on the NBA calendar for years to come.
5 Orlando Magic matchups that will one day be must-see TV
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dec. 11 at Orlando (7P)
Jan. 22 at Orlando (7P)
Feb. 22 at Cleveland (7P)
Last summer at this time, Orlando Magic fans were having an intense debate about whether the team should push their chips in and grab Donovan Mitchell and whatever it would cost to bring him to Orlando.
With Mitchell, the Magic would have a free ticket to the postseason and the kind of superstar guard the team has not really ever had (Anfernee Hardaway and Tracy McGrady are not really guards at their size).
The idea was tantalizing even if the Magic made it pretty clear this was not the kind of move they were interested in doing after grabbing Paolo Banchero with the top pick. All the reporting that was out there suggested the Magic never even seriously considered it despite the good reasons for them to explore it.
Mitchell ended up in Cleveland and the rest was kind of history.
The Cavaliers broke through to the Play-In Tournament in 2022, dropping a home game for the 8-seed to miss the Playoffs. They had a proof of concept that they could win with a core of Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and rookie Evan Mobley. They were ready to take the pressure someone like Mitchell would bring to get them over the top.
They did that, earning the 4-seed although Playoff disappointment still followed in a first-round loss to the New York Knicks (they were the ones to chase after Max Strus to shore up their shooting).
The Cavaliers in 2022 essentially had the season the Magic hope to have this year. Orlando wants to follow those footsteps and have the proof of concept breakthrough to get into the postseason so they could be players for a major player in the near future.
With the Cavaliers’ core group of four players entering this season at age 28 (Mitchell), 22 (Mobley), 22 (Garland) and 24 (Allen), this Cavs team is going to be a factor in the Eastern Conference for a little while longer. The Magic are considerably younger with Paolo Banchero entering this season at 20, Franz Wagner at 22, Markelle Fultz at 25 and Wendell Carter at 24.
Yet somehow, the Cavaliers are not one of the featured teams on national TV this year despite their success last year. They only have 17 games on national TV (including NBATV) this season. If the belief is that playoff success and dynamic stars gets you attention from the league, then the Cavaliers are proof that the system might be rigged.
That is something that needs to change because the Magic and Cavs are clearly positioned to be part of the league’s future.
5 Orlando Magic matchups that will one day be must-see TV
Minnesota Timberwolves
Jan. 9 at Orlando (7P)
Feb. 2 at Minneapolis (8P)
The Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves will always be connected. The two teams entered the league the same season for the 1989-90 season. Their histories have diverged and there has not been much of an on-court connection.
But it is always there.
And right now, for maybe the first time in the franchise’s history or since both teams had Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady, both teams have young stars growing at roughly the same trajectories. Both fan bases are extremely excited for what the future holds.
This offseason and the FIBA World Cup have continued the coming out party for Anthony Edwards. The No. 1 pick in the 2020 Draft averaged 24.6 points per game and doubled down on that by averaging 31.6 points per game in the series against the Denver Nuggets.
That has carried over to the summer where he is the unquestioned leading scorer for the United States. His 34-point performance against Germany was a downright impressive game even if it was just an exhibition.
The Timberwolves pushed their chips in by acquiring Rudy Gobert last summer. They are still viewed as the potential team on the rise in the Western Conference and Edwards is a big reason why.
If there is a young star — and an American star at that — that should get national attention right now, it is Edwards. He is going to be part of the cadre of future stars that will be the face of the league after LeBron James and Stephen Curry’s playing days are done.
So why is Minnesota on national TV only 10 times?! They are not on NBATV until Dec. 20 and they do not pop up on ESPN or TNT until Jan. 18 vs. Memphis (a great game featuring two young and up-and-coming teams).
The Magic have some rights to complain but they are unproven. The Timberwolves have proven themselves with postseason appearances in each of the last two years and a budding star player who deserves to be featured.
This is probably the Magic’s future in the national spotlight too. Even when Paolo Banchero makes his way onto the national stage as an All-Star and even when the Magic make the playoffs, they are probably going to need to prove themselves again to get the national recognition they probably deserve.
You can see why so many mid-sized markets complain. They are playing a rigged game.
5 Orlando Magic matchups that will one day be must-see TV
Indiana Pacers
Nov. 19 at Indianapolis (5P)
Dec. 23 at Indianapolis (7P)
March 10 at Orlando (6P)
The Playoffs are a zero-sum game.
There are only eight spots in the field with an additional two for the Play-In Tournament. They are precious and unseating teams from that field is a true battle. Do not think making the Play-In, as low a bar as that might be, will be easy for the Orlando Magic. It is not a sure thing they will get there.
This season in the Eastern Conference could be really unique and special though. There are two teams that seemed poised to take that leap into the postseason from the outside last year.
We know the Magic are poised to return to the postseason. Everyone can feel that is the next logical evolution for the team.
The Indiana Pacers are also poised to make a major leap. They were in Playoff position before Tyrese Haliburton’s injury in January derailed the Pacers’ season. So they worked this offseason to shore their team up by adding Bruce Brown. Indiana is a dangerous team and could be a team that makes a major leap.
Something feels comforting about knowing that when the Magic are ready for deep Playoff battles, the Pacers could be there waiting for them. It just feels right.
The Pacers and Magic are the best two young teams in the Eastern Conference right now.
The Pacers play a breakneck game and get up and down the court well. They play an entertaining brand of basketball. They are not a proven commodity since they do not have a playoff appearance. But the Pacers only have six national TV appearances for a team with an All-Star in Haliburton. It just feels off.
Maybe you could convince the NBA to switch the Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers’ game on March 10 to ESPN to replace a Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers game (another good matchup of young teams, so maybe leave that there).
Still, the Magic and Pacers are going to be stories throughout the season. They are going to be the teams everyone is going to be surprised to see in the standings throughout the season. It should not be a surprise.
5 Orlando Magic matchups that will one day be must-see TV
Boston Celtics
Nov. 24 at Orlando (In-Season Tournament, 2:30P/NBATV)
Dec. 15 at Boston (7:30P)
Dec. 17 at Boston (3P)
We have to give credit to one young team that is constantly in the national spotlight.
The Boston Celtics are not going anywhere. They are still the standard in the Eastern Conference in many ways. And they are young enough that they will be a factor in the Playoffs for years to come.
Boston has made it out of the first round in six of the past seven years and reached at least the conference finals in five of the past seven years. This is with a roster that has largely been led by Jayson Tatum (25 years old entering the 2024 season) and Jaylen Brown (26 at the start of the upcoming season).
They still have a lot of good years ahead of them. They are going to be the team everyone in the East will have to go through for easily the next six or seven years (Brown just signed his super max and Tatum is coming right after him).
The Orlando Magic will have at least one premiere matchup with them, hosting the Boston Celtics on Black Friday for their In-Season Tournament finale on NBATV.
The Magic have had their battles with the Celtics already too.
Orlando has, for whatever reason, been a team that gives Boston trouble. The Magic took three of four meetings from the Celtics last year, sweeping a weekend series in Boston as part of the Magic’s breakthrough six-game win streak. The lone loss was in the Magic’s home opener and ended in a close game for a young team.
If there is optimism that the Magic can win their group in the In-Season Tournament it is because they matchup better with the Celtics than any other team in the group.
Boston is still the gold standard in the Eastern Conference, even with the team’s playoff shortcomings. And the Celtics will be waiting when the Magic are ready to rise into the postseason.