Everyone seems to be waiting for the Magic to make a splash on the trade market and bring an offensive-minded point guard to Orlando. The Magic’s offensive struggles are no secret. They currently rank 27th in offensive rating, ahead of only the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, and Washington Wizards. All three of those teams are tanking. The biggest reasons for the Magic’s struggles on that end of the floor are a lack of playmaking and go-to scorers and bad 3-point shooting.
So, mock trades tend to send guards who can run an offense and score a lot to the Orlando Magic. Zach Buckley’s latest Magic mock trade in a Bleacher Report article is no exception.
The mock trade has LaMelo Ball going to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Anthony Black, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and two first-round picks.
Trading for LaMelo Ball would be risky
Theoretically, LaMelo Ball could be the right player to push the Magic to the next level offensively. He is a solid volume three-point shooter, dishes out a lot of assists, and can score around 25 points every game. Putting a scorer and playmaker like Ball next to Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero would make the Magic incredibly difficult to defend.
On the other hand, the Magic would have to give up two of their best defensive guards, including one of their recent first-round picks and the biggest 3-point threat on the team. That price is amplified when you consider that LaMelo Ball has a troublesome injury history. He has only played more than 60 games once in his career and only played a combined 58 games in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.
Between Jonathan Isaac, Wendell Carter Jr., Gary Harris, and Jalen Suggs, the Magic already have plenty of players whose health they have to worry about. This season, we saw first-hand what injuries can do to the Magic.
So, the potential of this mock trade depends on a lot of ifs. If Ball can stay healthy, he could transform the Magic’s offense and help the team reach its potential without requiring the Magic to give up any of their core pieces. However, if he is not healthy, the Magic would have to give up two valuable players and draft picks only to watch Ball sit on the bench and witness the team falling short of its potential. It would be a risky move, to say the least. The Magic should hopefully have better options available.
Grade: B-