The Orlando Magic were awash with opportunity in the summer of 2024.
They had come into loads of cap room just before their key young players were about to become much more expensive. They had loads of options to add the necessary shooting to their lineup.
They ultimately went with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The veteran sharpshooter from the Denver Nuggets was meant to provide the shooting and veteran experience the team needed. He provided plenty of the latter, but his shooting was a struggle all season.
In the end, while the Magic needed shooting and appreciated Caldwell-Pope's defensive presence, they seemed to need something more. They exited their postseason knowing they needed more ball-handling and creation.
Even though the Magic added another starter last year in free agency and in the offseason, it feels like the Magic need another creator and shooter this year. Orlando is fishing for another starter-level player and to add some offensive depth too.
Of course, that may not have happened last year if the Magic had the full slate of options. There were plenty of suggestions that Caldwell-Pope was not their primary target but quickly became so before free agency began.
That was because Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk took himself out of the free agency pool by signing a four-year, $78 million extension before free agency began. Orlando ultimately signed Caldwell-Pope to a three-year, $66 million deal.
After Monk had an up-and-down season in 2025 and the Kings failed to deliver and missed the Playoffs once again, losing in the Play-In, they could be ripe for some changes and moves.
It opens the door for the Magic to pursue this opportunity once again.
That is something that Sam Vecenie and Bryce Harper of The Game Theory Podcast, at least, believe the Magic should explore.
"I think he fits perfectly in the hierarchy of ball-handlers for them in terms of he doesn't have to have it," Simon said on the podcast. "But he can do it whenever Paolo [Banchero] and Franz [Wagner] are off the floor, need a break. He's going to take some of that usage off of them."
"I know that Malik's shooting is roller coastery, let's call it," Vecenie continued. "But he still gets guarded out there. In his last five years, he's shot 36 percent from three. He's a shot creator. He's happy to be a sixth man, we've seen it throughout the course of his career. If you start Jalen Suggs and KCP, and then you bring Monk off the bench, and he closes games for you. That's a role that works. This is my favorite deal that I've seen so far."
The podcast duo pitched several potential options for the Magic and settled on Jonathan Isaac, Jett Howard and a first-round pick for Malik Monk as the best potential offer they could come up with to boost the Magic this offseason.
There is at least the hint that the Magic were interested in him last year. And they could easily make a deal for Monk and still maintain flexibility for another deal in the future.
Monk had a down year for the Kings last year. He averaged a career-high 17.2 points per game and a career-high 5.6 assists per game. But he shot only 32.5 percent from three, the worst since his time with the Charlotte Hornets early in his career. He took a career-high 6.6 3-point attempts per game.
Monk takes most of his threes above the break, making only 30.8 percent of those shots. He shot 34.7 percent on catch-and-shoot threes, according to Second Spectrum, a number worse than DeMar DeRozan.
But because Monk can get hot from three, he still has loads of gravity. That is what the Magic are looking for as much as anything -- the threat of someone's shooting giving them space to create elsewhere.
Monk provides some of the volume the Magic are looking for. But the attraction with him is his ability to work on the ball as a passer and creator. Orlando is looking for more secondary creators to ease the playmaking burden on Banchero and Wagner overall.
He was solid in pick and rolls last year, averaging 0.90 points per possession as the ball-handler in pick and rolls according to NBA.com's tracking data. He shot a 50.0 percent effective field goal percentage in those situations in 5.0 possessions per game.
Only two Magic players had a better points per possession rate in that same situation -- Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs -- and only Suggs shot 50.0 percent effective field goal percentage in pick and rolls.
That is what Orlando is looking for.
Monk may not be the answer. But it is clear to see why the Magic were interested in him last summer and why that interest might be renewed. Monk would help, especially if he bounced back to his 2024 numbers -- 35.0 percent from three and 36.9 percent on catch-and-shoot opportunities.
This could be a chance to correct a chance the Magic never got last year.