When the Magic entered the 2024 offseason fresh off their first playoff appearance with the core of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs, expectations were high. Fans quickly started imagining which stars the Magic could sign. Paul George was the best free agent available, and the Magic were one of the few teams with the money available to lure him away from the LA Clippers.
Klay Thompson also continuously popped up as a potential target for the Magic. Orlando desperately needed to improve its 3-point shooting, so why not chase one of the best 3-point shooters in the game? Thompson also could have provided the young Magic with championship experience and veteran leadership.
Nevertheless, neither signing happened. The Magic added Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the mix, Paul George went to the Philadelphia 76ers, and Klay Thompson landed with the Dallas Mavericks.
Recent intel suggests that at least two of these free agency moves could have panned out quite differently.
Caldwell-Pope could be in Dallas now if the Nuggets had agreed to a deal with the Mavericks
In his latest Sunday best, Marc Stein broke down the chase for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope that took place this summer. According to Stein, the Dallas Mavericks had their eyes on the Nuggets’ veteran but could have only acquired him via a sign-and-trade.
Denver was not a fan of that offer.
“Making such a deal with a top Western Conference rival was believed, at the time, to be prime among the factors discouraging Denver from helping facilitate Caldwell-Pope’s exit, but it proved not nearly as decisive as ownership’s well-chronicled reluctance to run up a luxury-tax bill,” Stein writes.
Stein further adds that the Nuggets actually did come around late in the process, considering the Mavericks’ offer, but too late to prevent the Magic from signing Caldwell-Pope and watching another key player walk away for nothing.
Caldwell-Pope was supposed to improve the Magic’s 3-point shooting while also seamlessly fitting the team’s defensive identity. For a team not ready to make an all-in move and put championship expectations on a young team but still looking for veteran leadership, Caldwell-Pope seemed like the perfect fit.
Unfortunately, Caldwell-Pope has struggled offensively since coming to Orlando. He put together some encouraging shooting performances but is only shooting 30.3 percent from three for the season. Once the Magic are back at full strength and Caldwell-Pope will get easier shots, that will hopefully change. After all, someone who shot around 40 percent from three in all of the last five seasons does not simply lose his touch.
Klay Thompson is also not at his best with his new team, shooting 36.6 percent from three, which marks the worst shooting percentage of his career, and 38.9 percent from the field.
Despite the struggles of their big offseason additions, both the Magic and the Mavericks are doing fine overall. The Magic are currently sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference behind only the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics. Meanwhile, the Mavericks are fourth in the Western Conference behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Houston Rockets.
Still, one can wonder how things would look now if the Denver Nuggets had agreed to deal Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade and taken the Magic’s top free agent target off the market. Would the Magic indeed have pursued Klay Thompson? Would they still be as good defensively? Caldwell-Pope may be struggling with his shot, but he is still an excellent defender, and the Magic are relying heavily on that.
How much would a player like Thompson impact the Magic’s offense? Shooting 36.6 percent from three may not be good for Thompson’s standards, but it is still better than the numbers the Magic are currently getting from their players. Only Gary Harris is shooting a better percentage on threes.