The Orlando Magic have made their offseason intentions clear.
They are going to be aggressive in trying to add to the struggling offense and seek playmaking, creation and shooting. Orlando is not going to settle for a playoff cameo anymore. With the two budding stars on the roster, this team wants to advance deeper into the postseason.
Orlando is not resting on continuity anymore. After ranking 27th in offensive rating last year and failing to climb out of the bottom 10 in offensive rating for the last 12 years, the Magic seem serious about improving their offense.
The question is who will they target?
Orlando is a luxury tax team and flirting with the first apron. In all likelihood, the team will try to swap out salaries the team already has without taking on too much money to avoid some of the penalties for being too far over the tax. That goes double with Paolo Banchero's anticipated extension kicking in for the 2027 season.
Orlando still has to act. And the team still has to make a significant move. Magic fans seem intent on seeing the team add another playmaker and creator this offseason.
And that has returned everyone to a familiar trade target.
Is this the offseason when the Orlando Magic finally acquire Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons?
Connecting the dots
That still seems to be the going thought around the league.
Everyone is trying to get a grasp on what an aggressive Orlando Magic offseason looks like.
Jeff Weltman is known for being fairly conservative. He has banked on continuity, and he was hesitant to make any in-season moves. Weltman explained that the team was cognizant of its cap situation and was hesitant to pay the price being asked for any rentals on the trade market in February.
The Magic seem more prepared to sacrifice from defense to get offense.
"Most of our roster upgrades are going to have to come from swapping than just adding," Weltman said at exit interviews. "The reason we've been a good team the last couple of years is because we have an elite defensive backbone. As we look to improve our offense, we have to be very cognizant of not unraveling the DNA of our team. That's what we're going to have to balance this summer."
That has inevitably led things back to the "pursuit" of Simons and wondering if he is the right fit for this team.
Marc Stein posted on the Stein Line Anfernee Simons as a natural fit for the Magic's desires for playmaking, creation and shooting without taking the ball away from Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. The Magic have been connected, it seems, to every available point guard. Everyone seemed to recognize the Magic's need for an organizing guard.
The way the team played with Cory Joseph in the starting lineup -- that lineup had a +11.5 net rating (116.0 offensive rating and 104.6 defensive rating) in the regular season and even was just -2.7 points per 100 possessions in the Playoffs (98.9/101.6) -- seemed like a good test case for a true point guard in the lineup.
Jalen Suggs played only 35 games, so perhaps there is still an experiment to run. But the Magic never approached those offensive numbers. There may be something to it.
Orlando certainly needs more players who can attack off the dribble and create their own shot. In the Playoffs, both Banchero and Wagner had usage rates greater than 30 percent. They were the only two players who could create.
The appeal of Simons is clear because he can be that creator and floor spacer. He can move the ball and pass it without overtaking the offense. He can play off of Banchero and Wagner as much as they can play off him.
The good and the bad of Simons
Anfernee Simons had a down year last year, averaging 19.3 points per game and 4.8 assists per game with shooting splits of 42.6/36.3/90.2. He appeared in 70 games, tying his career high.
It is easy to see the appeal for Simons. While he shot just 36.3 percent from three, he took 8.5 3-point attempts per game. He has taken more than seven per game in each of the last four seasons.
Orlando needs a volume shooter and a constant shooting threat. Simons would provide that constant threat, espeically as a pull-up threat. The lack of constant shooting threat hurts the team.
Simons made 37.7 percent of his 4.3 catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts, according to Second Spectrum. He shot 34.7 percent on 4.2 pull-up 3-point attempts.
That is not exactly the picture of efficiency. But that is also coming in an offense where Simons was leaned on as the top scorer. He could make more of those shots -- he shot 41.8 percent on "wide-open" threes last year -- with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner soaking up attention.
The question with Simons is less about skill and more about scale. Can he work as a third option better than he does as a starring option. And does that make him worht the investment?
The other side of the coin is his defense. Simons rated as one of the worst defenders in the entire league, despite Portland finishing 16th in the league in defensive rating.
Portland did have a slightly better defensive rating with Simons on the floor. Perhaps there is something to work with. Simons has not been on a team that has asked him to defend much in his career. Nobody knows what he would look like in a system like Orlando's.
These are all part of the things the Magic must weigh this offseason. Simons is on the list (at least for fans) of players the Magic will target. With an expiring deal worth $27.7 million, acquiring him will mean the Magic are a first apron team. Then they must consider what they are willing to bring him back for in a new contract.
There are a lot of elements that would suggest these rumors may finally come to fruition to bring the Altamonte Springs-native back to Central Florida. Then there are a lot of elements to suggest this time has passed and he is not the player the Magic will seek.