Making it to the NBA is difficult, but sometimes, carving out a consistent role and job security is even more difficult, especially if injuries are involved. Despite the many teams in the NBA, roster spots are not always easy to come by.
Even though they did not make a big move other than signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Magic had a busy offseason in 2024. Most of their moves included re-signing their own free agents and making sure that most players from the 2023-24 roster would stay in Orlando.
However, not everyone made the cut and some former Magic players are still without NBA jobs in 2025.
Markelle Fultz
In 2017, Markelle Fultz was the number-one draft pick. He never lived up to the expectations that come with being the top pick due to several serious injuries. For a while, Fultz found a home in Orlando. He played five seasons with the Magic but struggled to contribute consistently in the team’s playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Over seven games, Fultz averaged 6.4 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. He had some solid games, like his performances in Games 3 and 4, but struggled at other times despite being one of the few players who had been to the playoffs before.
After the series, the Magic decided that they had outgrown Fultz’s limitations as a 3-point shooter and wanted to give youngster Anthony Black a chance to play more minutes. Despite being the sixth overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Black did not have a consistent role on the Magic, as he was stuck in the guard rotation behind Jalen Suggs, Gary Harris, Cole Anthony, and Markelle Fultz. Losing one of them was the easiest way to carve out a role for Black.
Somewhat surprisingly, Fultz never signed with another team in free agency during the offseason. Perhaps missing the 2024-25 season will give him a chance to recover from the knee injury that bothered him all season long, and he will be back in the NBA in the 2025-26 season.
Admiral Schofield
The only other player from the Magic’s 2023-24 roster who did not land a new NBA or G League contract is Admiral Schofield. Schofield played 98 NBA games with the Magic between 2021 and 2024 on several 10-day and two-way contracts. Nevertheless, he did not get another deal from the Magic or any other NBA or G League team during the 2024 offseason.
Instead, Schofield signed with the French club LDLC ASWEL.
Chuma Okeke
Chuma Okeke played four seasons with the Orlando Magic after they picked him up with the sixteenth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. In his early seasons with the team, Okeke saw significant playing time, but that changed in the 2023-24 season, as the Magic chased a spot in the playoffs for the first time with Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs.
Okeke was not one of the players the Magic re-signed over the summer. He landed a deal with the New York Knicks instead but was waived and is now a member of the Westchester Knicks in the G League.
Kevon Harris
Kevon Harris has only played 36 NBA games at this point—all of them with Orlando as one of the Magic’s two-way players. Over those 36 games, he averaged 4 points and 2 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game. He did not land another two-way contract but is currently playing for the College Park Skyhawks in the G League, working on his game to try and get another chance in the NBA eventually.