Free agency is a time of the offseason for NBA teams to improve and evaluate their teams so they can get them to a more competitive level. The great teams have found good players that fit their roles and needs to bring their franchises to the next level.
For the Orlando Magic recently, free agency has not quite been the place where the team has made major moves. Sometimes frustratingly so. It feels like the modern Magic are biding their time.
That is certainly very different than what the Magic have done historically. Historically, free agency has been central to the Magic making major leaps into championship contention. Orlando’s strong free agency decisions have defined the team’s history as much as the team’s lottery luck.
What makes one free-agent pickup better than another one? Is it the impact they have on the team they go to? Or could it be the way the move helped their career get to that next level?
It is the combination of these two factors that allowed me to point out three moves made by Orlando that stood out amongst the rest.
Free agency has defined the Orlando Magic’s success as much as their draft picks have. And three acquisitions stand out in their history as the very best free agency can be.
The pickups of these players have been monumental to the franchise for their careers and also for building a deep history and culture within the franchise for the past 35 years.
They all played a role in championship runs and were even centerpieces within a top-ranked NBA team.
Their move to Orlando also changed themselves and their own game as players making their careers all the better.
The Magic have had lots of free-agency pickups throughout their history. Let’s take a look back at the biggest free-agent pickups for Orlando in celebration of 35 years of Magic basketball.