Desmond Bane has big expectations for the season. The Orlando Magic have big expectations for Bane this season.
Ever since Orlando acquired Bane, expectations for the team have raced ahead of them. Orlando is expected to win 50 games and reach the second round of the Playoffs at a minimum this season. The team is a dark horse to win the East.
Bane is a transformative player, seemingly the perfect fit for the Magic as a volume and efficient shooter who can also handle the ball and make plays for others. And he is also not a negative on defense, most importantly.
As the Magic prepare for media day and the start of the season, Bane has repeatedly expressed how excited he is to get to work with his new team. That process started when the team got together for a mini camp in Las Vegas two weekends ago.
It is obvious how eager he is to work with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. But one player has always been one of the key highlights for him. It is the player he believes is the X-factor.
Even dating back to the media he did after the trade, he always mentioned how eager he is to play with Wendell Carter and use his versatility as a big.
Carter is his big X-factor for the season.
"Wendell is going to be the X-factor for us, you'll see," Bane told Kevin O'Connor on The Kevin O'Connor Show. "If you look at the modern day 5s in the NBA, Dell can switch 1 through 5, he's making great decisions in the pocket on his rolls, he's finishing strong around the rim, shooting threes. It will just be about staying healthy and staying confident. I think he's the guy who can really open things up for us."
That is not the name Magic fans typically come up with as a huge factor in the season, other than hopes for bouncing back after an up-and-down season in 2025. But Carter has a huge role to play this season and could be a major turning point for the season.
Bane is certainly trying to get a good relationship with his primary screener and sees the vision of Carter helping unlock an offense that has been stuck in the mud.
An inconsistent 2025
For any of that to happen, Desmond Bane is right that it starts with Wendell Carter staying healthy and being consistent, two things that at times eluded him last year.
Carter entered last year saying his primary goal was to be healthy for the entire season. He dealt with a knee injury that took him out of the sixth game of the season for a game, and then became serious enough for him to miss two weeks after he reaggravated it the following game.
But Carter accomplished this health goal. He played in a career-high 68 games and played in a career-high 61 straight games until he sat out the last few games of the season with the Magic's playoff seeding already wrapped up.
Carter noted that he still felt behind skill-wise last year after he spent much of the offseason recovering from surgery on his left hand after he returned from a fracture in his left hand from early in the season quickly during the 2024 season.
His play certainly suggested that he was struggling to get his shot right.
Despite the relative health, Carter averaged a career-low 9.1 points per game and added 7.2 rebounds per game. He struggled especially to find his rhythm with his jumper, shooting 23.4 percent from three. He shot 35.6 percent and 37.4 percent from three the previous two seasons.
It was a major step back for Carter. The cherry on top of a frustrating season for so many players on the Magic.
Carter found some redemption in the Playoffs. He was the only player besides Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to hit double digits in scoring. He averaged a double-double with 10.2 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game.
The Orlando Magic's defensive scheme was built around Carter's ability to switch on the perimeter so they could lock out the Boston Celtics' 3-point shooting. While Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum got their mid-range shots to fall, Boston's 3-point shooting was mostly neutralized.
The hope is that a fully healthy offseason will help Carter return to the more efficient 3-point shooting and scoring from previous seasons.
Carter unlocks the door
Wendell Carter has a big role for this Orlando Magic team even if he is not scoring at the rate he did in previous seasons. The Magic do not need a high-scoring Carter.
But they need Carter and the skills he brings to the table.
His defensive versatility is critical for the Magic, allowing them to play almost any defensive style. That is what helps him stand out compared to the Magic's other centers.
Despite the perception he is a poor shot blocker, opponents made only 57.2 percent of their shots against Carter at the rim. That mark trailed only Jonathan Isaac on the Magic and was 13th among centers who played at least 24 minutes per game -- sandwiched between Evan Mobley and Myles Turner in the rankings.
Carter is a better rim protector than he gets credit for despite the lack of explosive blocks and highlights at the rim.
The trick will be unlocking more of him on offense.
His threat as a shooter should have some weight. But he has to hit those threes.
Carter's real offensive value will come from his screening and passing, two underrated skills that have been pushed aside in the Magic's sluggish, standstill offense that was desperate for shooting. Those are two skills Bane is looking forward to playing off of.
The hope for the Magic is that Bane's addition opens up new avenues for the offense. Not only should his spacing create more room for others to attack -- and thus, more space for Carter to roll to the rim rather than settle for jumpers out of the way of the Magic's drivers -- but it should also open room for the team to cut more and score in different ways.
Carter has a big role to play in this season. And he could be the X-factor that makes a lot of this team work.