It’s no secret that offense is not the Magic’s strong suit. This current team, built around Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs, excels on defense but relies heavily on Banchero and Wagner to carry the offensive production despite little spacing around them. All of those troubles have been amplified by the numerous injuries that hit the Magic this season.
Banchero and Wagner have barely even played together yet, which is one reason why the Magic currently have the second-worst offensive rating in the league. The Magic have struggled especially in their most recent games, hitting the 100-point mark only once in five straight losses.
Orlando has fallen to seventh place in the Eastern Conference and will have to find a way out of that hole to realize their goal of securing homecourt advantage in the playoffs. The Magic learned the hard way how important that can be last season, as the home team won every game in their seven-game series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
There are several ways the Magic can approach this. They could simply wait to get healthy and see if having their core together once again can be enough to string together a bunch of wins and rise in the standings. Banchero and Wagner are both back on the court already, and Jalen Suggs and Goga Bitadze should hopefully return soon as well. Things are going to start looking much better, but the question is whether that is enough.
Mock trade has Magic make a move for Anfernee Simons
Another way to improve the Magic’s offense is to trade for an offensive-minded player. One mock trade recently proposed by Kevin O’Connor on The Bill Simmons Podcast has the Magic trading Cole Anthony, Jett Howard, and a first-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons.
Simons is a player that has been connected to the Magic for quite some time. The reasoning is that Simons likely needs to move to another team to truly flourish, and the Magic need a guard who can score and space the floor. Simons is not shooting it as well from three this season as in other seasons, but 36.9 percent on 8.1 attempts per game is still solid, especially for a Magic team desperate for any kind of production from deep. Plus, Simons is still only 25, fitting the Magic’s timeline very well, and grew up in the area.
Giving up Cole Anthony and Jett Howard for a player who could help the Magic take the next steps offensively is not a crazy price either. Anthony has been rather inconsistent this season, and Howard is still not a regular part of the Magic’s rotation.
On paper, Simons seems like a good fit in Orlando, and the fake trade is reasonable. The question is just whether the Magic would even consider making such a significant move ahead of the trade deadline. For one, the Magic are not known for their activity on the trade market unless absolutely necessary. Secondly, they have barely even gotten a chance to see Wagner and Banchero play together yet this season. In Banchero’s absence, Wagner played at an All-Star level. The Magic would likely prefer to see if he can do the same while the rest of the team is healthy before making any significant changes to the roster.
If the Magic make a move before the trade deadline, it will likely be for a role player who can space the floor rather than someone who would change the way they play. They need better 3-point shooting but do not necessarily have to go after someone like Simons, who would need a lot of touches, quite yet. A move like that probably makes more sense in the offseason.