The Orlando Magic have positioned themselves to make a serious run at the NBA Finals in 2025-26. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner will return to lead a team that's made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, and Desmond Bane has arrived to provide a desperately-needed dose of shooting and shot creation from the backcourt.
The single most important addition to the Magic's postseason dreams, however, is a player who was already there: Jalen Suggs.
Bane was a vital addition who will play a direct role in Orlando being able to potentially make it past the first round for the first time since 2010. The Magic ranked No. 29 in points via guards in 2024-25, as well as No. 30 in three-point field goal percentage.
Bane, meanwhile, has averaged 21.1 points, 5.0 assists, and 2.8 three-point field goals made on .477/.394/.883 shooting over the past three seasons.
Even with the addition of Bane, however, the Magic need Suggs healthy and available in 2025-26. He's often the difference between overburdening the stars and creating enough balance to adequately contain an opposing team's best scorer without depleting Banchero or Wagner's energy.
With Bane and Suggs now anchoring the backcourt, the Magic can finally take a long-awaited step forward and compete with the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
Jalen Suggs will be the difference between contending and pretending
It hasn't taken long for Suggs to emerge as one of the best defensive players in the NBA. He earned All-Defensive Second Team honors in 2023-24 and even finished in the top 10 in voting for Defensive Player of the Year.
Suggs averaged 12.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 2.0 three-point field goals made per game that season, shooting at a clip of .471/.397/.756.
Unfortunately, injuries derailed Suggs' momentum during the 2024-25 season. He endured back spasms in early January and appeared in only one game from there on out. To make matters worse, he experienced discomfort in his left knee during rehabilitation and was ultimately forced to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery to remove a cartilage fragment.
It was a devastating development that disrupted a season in which Suggs was averaging 16.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.9 blocks, and 2.2 three-point field goals made per game.
Suggs' jump shot has been erratic during his four NBA seasons, but there's hope that his 2023-24 form can be sustained if injuries no longer alter his progress. If that transpires, then the Magic will have as many as three reliable three-point shooters in the backcourt: Bane, Tyus Jones, and Suggs.
With a starting lineup of Bane, Suggs, Wagner, Banchero, and Wendell Carter Jr., the Magic would have the top-end talent to compete with just about anyone in the Eastern Conference.
There's a degree of optimism, of course, in believing that Suggs will be back at 100 percent—and that he and Bane will develop chemistry in the backcourt. Orlando is well aware of what he's capable of, however, and has every reason to believe that he can swing a postseason series in their favor with his quality of play on both ends of the floor.
Bane is the major-money addition who will undoubtedly be tasked with elevating the Magic to contender status, but Suggs is the glue guy the Magic were missing during the 2025 NBA Playoffs.