September is usually not the time anybody is talking about trades and imminent moves in the NBA.
Yes, this media economy around the sport is always seemingly focused on the future and the next big trade that will break the Internet. Nobody seems focused on the present at all. It is always about the next big thing.
The Orlando Magic are trying their best to keep the focus on the present. They have a season that fans are looking forward to in many ways as a breakthrough for a young up-and-coming team into the postseason. The Magic themselves valued continuity this offseason to try to let the team grow.
Everyone knows though that the Magic team that takes the floor in 2024 is not likely to be the team’s final form. This is not the group that could compete for a championship.
The Orlando Magic are using this season once again to assess their roster and see who can answer the short- and long-term questions to help the team win and grow.
Orlando’s valuing of continuity might mean there are a lot of players held over year after year. But there is a long way to go before the Magic even get to being title contenders. There are a lot of questions to ask about this team.
Nobody would blame Magic fans for already thinking about ways to improve the team. There are plenty of trade opportunities out there today for every team. It is hard for the Magic not to consider whether going after Buddy Hield is the right call.
The Magic seem content with continuity. It almost seemed like a deliberate choice for the team. And the reason for that is to give the team a better understanding of what it has on its roster and what it needs to build.
This season is about answering a lot of long-term questions just as it is about answering some of the short-term questions.
It is clear the Magic are planning to build around Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Those two players have the clearest trajectories to become stars on the team.
But a lot of the other players on this Magic team have some very big questions to answer about their long-term fit with the team, not to mention how they will contribute to the growth the team expects to see this coming season.
This is a year for the Magic where they will be answering some short-term questions as they try to reach the postseason. But they will begin to ponder the long-term questions their roster has left for them.
3 Orlando Magic players with short- and long-term questions
Markelle Fultz
Short-Term Question: How close can Markelle Fultz get to No. 1 pick Fultz?
Long-Term Question: Is Markelle Fultz the right point guard for this team?
Markelle Fultz is going to look a bit different when he takes the floor for training camp in a couple of weeks. Gone are the long locks that he sported when he arrived in Orlando back in 2019. Fultz is looking a bit more like his younger self in Washington these days.
That feels at least partially appropriate because Fultz has probably never been closer to being “top overall pick Markelle Fultz” than he is right now.
Fultz had a career season, averaging 14.0 points per game and 5.7 assists per game. He shot 51.4 percent from the floor overall, not quite canceling out his struggles from three but leaving him efficient enough to be dangerous off the dribble. He played in 60 games, missing the first 20 only because of a preseason toe injury just before training camp.
After the All-Star Break — an important marker because it would mark nearly one year after he returned from his ACL tear — Fultz averaged 15.6 points and 6.0 assists per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Fultz was quietly one of the best stories to end last season. It felt like he had finally reclaimed himself.
It certainly feels like he has set the stage for a breakout season where the rest of the league comes around on him. If Fultz is ever going to approach being the first-overall-pick version of himself, this is the time for him to do so.
There is probably no player with as wide a variance for what he can become this season than Fultz. He could easily be the team’s third-leading scorer and ace point guard, or he could still just be a solid starting point guard option as he has been when he has been healthy during his career.
The national media seems ready to see the Magic move on from Fultz as a point guard option. Magic fans certainly are not. They believe in what Fultz can still be. And so everybody is eager to see what he can become.
Those national pundits though do raise that important question.
Can the Magic succeed with their duo of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner without a point guard who can shoot it consistently? When the Magic get to the playoffs, will defenses sag too far off him and dare him to shoot?
So much of this season for Orlando is about trying to figure out what will work for the team when it gets to the postseason. And as much as everyone is excited to see what Fultz can do, he faces a lot of these long-term questions.
And there are legitimate questions to ask about Fultz and his future ahead of his contract year.
A lot is expected of Fultz this season. And a lot of questions about his future with the team will get answered this season.
3 Orlando Magic players with short- and long-term questions
Jalen Suggs
Short-Term Question: Can Jalen Suggs find his 3-point shot?
Long-Term Question: Is Markelle Fultz the answer at shooting guard?
There was a lot of hype surrounding Jalen Suggs when the Orlando Magic picked him with the fifth pick in the draft. Suggs has struggled to live up to it in a lot of ways.
Still, he has carved his place with the team. Even though Suggs has had to battle injuries throughout the early part of his career, he has established himself as an excellent and disruptive defender. Suggs has a place in the league.
But like with so many players with this Magic team, he clearly has value and a role but will he be with the team when they reach their final form?
More importantly, the question for Suggs is what is his next area for growth? Can he be the player that completes a Magic lineup that has a lot working for it already?
The short-term question for Suggs centers on his shooting. Everyone knows he can be an impactful defender, but his offense has been inconsistent at best. Some of that has to do with the injuries he has faced early in his career.
The numbers though are not all that encouraging. Suggs made only 21.4 percent of his 3-pointers in his rookie year and 32.7 percent last year. The Magic saw a nice uptick in his 19 games after the All-Star Break when he made 36.0 percent of his 3-pointers.
Still, that is not likely to change how defenses approach or attack him. And that is ultimately what matters.
Suggs got a fully healthy offseason as far as anyone knows after spending last summer recovering from ankle surgery. That should give him plenty of time to get better as a shooter.
To be sure, Suggs’ shooting is the quickest key to his development. It is the best way for him to get his spot in the starting lineup, as many fans hope will occur.
The Magic might hope for that to occur too. Gary Harris is a solid shooter but will be a free agent in a crowded backcourt. It feels like Harris’ time is nearing its end with the Magic.
The question is whether the Magic can develop a shooting guard internally or whether this will be a position the Magic look to upgrade via trade.
That temptation is already in front of the Orlando Magic with the Indiana Pacers reportedly shopping Buddy Hield after they were unable to come to an extension agreement. On paper — before dealing with contract and age — Hield seems like a perfect fit for the team with his shooting ability. It is exactly what the Magic need.
Orlando does not appear to be a franchise or organization that would make such a major move right before training camp. They stuck with continuity seemingly deliberately as an organizational choice and philosophy. They are going to give a player like Suggs his chance.
In a lot of ways then, it feels like the starting shooting guard spot is Suggs’ to take. With his talent and potential, he has every capability of being the Magic’s starting guard.
There is even some evidence that the Magic would play well with Suggs in the starting lineup — in 54 minutes, the Magic’s starting lineup had a +11.3 net rating (113.7 offensive rating/102.4 defensive rating) with Suggs in for Harris.
Orlando intentionally is not standing in the way of any players on the current roster. The Magic want these young players to prove themselves. No one may have more to prove than Suggs.
3 Orlando Magic players with short- and long-term questions
Wendell Carter
Short-Term Question: Can Wendell Carter have a healthy season?
Long-Term Question: Is Wendell Carter the center the Orlando Magic need?
No one should question Wendell Carter’s toughness. He played most of last season with a plantar fascia injury that caused him to miss some time in December. The understanding was that he would not make the injury worse and so he gutted through it.
If there was a reason that Carter’s season seemed a bit underwhelming, that very well could be the reason why. Carter was playing perhaps a step slow.
And that may have highlighted some of his weaknesses as a true rim protector.
No one should take Carter for granted. He does a lot of things that just make sense for this team. He is solid positionally, able to deter players at the basket and defend the post effectively. He can step out and guard the perimeter too.
There has always been a lot to like about Carter. But this year will be about proving himself in two ways.
The first is his need to stay healthy. Carter has struggled mightily with little nagging injuries throughout his career. It has never been anything long-term that has kept him out for long periods of time or recurring injuries to the same area. Yet, Carter has struggled to stay on the court.
He appeared in only 57 games last year. Carter has never played more than 62 games in any season of his career (that was the 2022 season). Even during the COVID-shortened year in 2021, Carter played in only 54 of 71 games — equivalent to 62.4 games in an 82-game season.
The best ability is availability. And losing your starting center is a big deal in the NBA. The Magic had some weaknesses at backup center but clearly feel comfortable enough with Moe Wagner and Goga Bitadze in the short term.
The question is whether Carter’s struggles to play consistently will hold him or this team back. Orlando needs him on the court. The benefits are clear — the Magic had a 111.4 defensive rating with Carter on the floor, a mark that trailed only Franz Wagner among starters. And Carter is a solid defender in every aspect.
Still, it is hard to escape the questions about his long-term future and whether he can play center on a championship-level team.
Carter is solid positionally and rates overall as a good defender. He is a decent shot-blocker, but not an above-the-rim playmaker.
Carter is emblematic in many ways of how the Magic found success defensively last year. The Magic were fantastic at preventing shots at the rim or in the restricted area, but if teams could figure out how to get there, they offered little resistance.
Advanced stats show Carter did well at the rim — opponents shot 4.30 percentage points worse at the rim than expected and Carter’s defense saved 0.61 points per 75 possessions, according to data from Basketball Index. But Carter also rates poorly as a pure rim protector — opponents still shot 64.0 percent at the rim against Carter, according to data from Second Spectrum.
Carter is more than serviceable and above average as a starter at center. But the question facing him and facing this Magic team is whether what they have and what they are building around players like Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner work in the playoffs.
This is something that everyone on the roster has to prove. Carter can silence a lot of questions by helping get the Magic to the playoffs and succeeding in it. That is the central thesis for the season and the biggest thing this team needs to see and learn.
Carter is certainly capable of stepping up to that plate. But he does not have the look of the centers that are winning big in the NBA now — either super-skilled playmakers like Nikola JOkic or versatile rim protectors like Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo. That is something he has to put to rest this year.