The case for optimism with the Orlando Magic is purely about talent.
The Magic believe Paolo Banchero will return to being an All-Star. They believe a fully healthy season from Franz Wagner will get him to the All-Star Game. Desmond Bane delivered the spacing and shooting the Magic so desperately needed last year.
The team's starting lineup was a crown jewel and something the Magic fanatically believed in this offseason.
Anthony Black had a breakout season. He carried the team through December and January when he was put into the starting lineup. The entire league has high hopes for him -- all before he is due a new contract.
The Magic have a lot of things to believe in. They also have a lot to prove.
Anthony Black is not alone in having to prove something -- Paolo Banchero needs to prove he can be a superstar, Franz Wagner needs to prove he can stay healthy, Jalen Suggs needs to prove consistency and on and on.
But no players is in as a unique position to grow as Black.
He thrived last year when he was pushed into the starting lineup. But he had some struggles coming off the bench, the role he is likely to play this season.
Orlando was at its best in the 2024 season because of its powerful, high-scoring bench. If the Magic are going to repeat that breakthrough, they will need Nikola Vucevic to help boost the scoring off the bench. But more than that, they will need Black to be the main scoring force off their bench.
Black's season -- and his contractual future -- depends on him matching his breakout 2026 season. Orlando needs him to be stellar in his bench role.
Black's breakout season brings promise
There are big expectations for Anthony Black this season.
His 2025 season was a true breakout, in which the third-year guard put everything together and began to show his instincts and ability as a scorer.
In his first two years, he struggled to find his footing. He was a solid defender, but he lacked a clear offensive role. He was not a confident shooter. In the Playoffs in both 2024 and 2025, Black quickly receded.
It was clear things were different from early in the season. He scored 20 points in the second quarter of the Orlando Magic's blowout win over the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Cup. He had a stellar 38-point performance that included several clutch plays in a win over the Denver Nuggets.
There was, of course, the dunk heard around the world in Berlin against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Black became a much more confident scorer and attacker. When the Magic needed someone to step up and fill in for Franz Wagner's injuries, Anthony Black delivered.
He finished the season averaging 15.0 points per game -- a 59.6 percent increase from his 2025 scoring average -- and shot 33.3 percent on 4.5 3-point attempts per game. His defense remained solid, even if it took some step back with his added offensive responsibilities.
Black suffered an abdominal strain in early March. He returned late in the season but was clearly not at the same level in the Playoffs, where he averaged 8.6 points per game and shot just 37.0 percent from the floor and 31.8 percent from three. He only seemed to find his footing late in the series after Franz Wagner's injury -- scoring 19 in Game 5, eight in Game 6 and 11 in Game 7.
This season is all about confirmation of that breakthrough.
Orlando will be weighing a new extension for Black. Figuring out the right amount is difficult because of the Magic's own financial situation and because it is unclear whether Black can repeat this success.
Odds are good he can. But the Magic need a bit more.
Black off the bench
Anthony Black's big breakthrough in December and January came when he was in the starting lineup and averaging starter's minutes.
That run from Franz Wagner's injury to the end of January saw Black average 19.0 points per game and shoot 47.0 percent from the floor and 38.0 percent from three in 34.6 minutes per game over those 23 games. Black is certainly capable.
He did not return to the bench until after he returned from his abdominal injury, when Wagner was back in the starting five.
Black's numbers off the bench are colored by that difficult run. He averaged 12.4 points per game and shot 44.3 percent from the floor and 28.2 percent from three in 24 games off the bench.
The lone bright spot in those numbers is the Magic were +5.1 points per game with Black coming off the bench, compared to -3.0 points per game when he started. Black was still a boost to the bench groups.
But it is worth noting how split up those games were.
Black averaged 13.2 points per game and shot 45.4 percent from the floor and 31.8 percent from three in 20 of 24 games off the bench before Franz Wagner's injury. That is the majority of his games coming off the bench.
It is easy to throw out his post-injury return in April -- 10.5 points per game and 36.1 percent shooting and 23.5 percent from three in those final four games, weighing his numbers down.
Black is a very capable bench player. And he has the ability to lift the Magic's bench back to being one of the highest-scoring units in the league -- especially if this team can stay healthy and especially with Nikola Vucevic adding more scoring to that reserve group.
FanDuel Sportsbook currently has Black at +2000 to win Sixth Man of the Year, the sixth-best odds. There are big expectations for Black this season.
But like eveyrthing else with Black, the Magic and the league are looking for confirmation. They are looking for proof that he can do it again and play the role that they need.
The Magic have a lot of things that need to go right that did not become fully realized last year. That is what defined their season. Orlando has shown it has the capability to get all those pieces together.
Black is as big a piece of that puzzle as anyone. Orlando needs to see him thrive off the bench and help boost the Magic's depth this season. That could be the thing that lifts the team up the standings.
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