Everyone who followed this Orlando Magic team this past season knows that the front office has some work to do this summer when it comes to legitimizing the offense. The Magic still employed their typical brand of hard-nosed defense, but due to a variety of factors, their offense was severely lacking at times. The first step they should take toward changing that circumstance this summer is to decline Gary Harris' $7.5 million team option.
The Magic are in a position to potentially have one of the best regular seasons of any Eastern Conference team in 2025-26. But for that to happen, they must prioritize shooting consistency and overall offensive production from their wings and guards. These are areas where Harris has struggled.
Harris has played just 48 games due to injuries in two of the last three seasons. Ever since he averaged a 43% mark from beyond the three-point line in 2022-23, his percentage fell in each of the next two years to where he was shooting with just 35% accuracy this past season from three.
In 2024-25, his shot volume was low and his overall offensive impact was minimal. Combine those problems with his injury troubles, and it's hard to see him remaining an impact player with this team moving forward.
The Magic should decline Gary Harris' team option
After a season where Orlando finished last in the association in both total three-point makes and three-point percentage, there's not a whole lot of room for the kind of players who do nothing to bring up the slack in this department. Veteran presence like the kind Harris brings to the table is good, but it may not be the Magic's top priority at the moment.
The teams that go deep into the playoffs are all extremely stacked, and building depth with more versatile, consistent perimeter threats is going to be the way Orlando wants to go. If the Magic want to have ambitions like reaching the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals, this is the direction they have to go.
Letting Harris walk would allow the Magic to commit that $7.5 million elsewhere, and it could ideally be used to bring in younger and more reliable floor-spacing players. We know that Orlando's identity will continue to be in their strong defensive presence to some degree, but even the strongest defenses that win championships have a respectable offensive attack to go along with it.
There are going to be some hard decisions the Magic's front office will have to make this summer. But with all due respect to Gary Harris, this is a pretty easy one. Moving on from number 14 will allow Orlando to continue evolving and find more durable offensive-minded players that fit their timeline.