It is officially trade rumor season.
Any time all the executives around the league gather in one place, discussions are going to be had about any and everything and some of those rumors will leak. Everyone likes to gab and talk. It is officially the NBA's silly season.
That got a kickstart with Monday's reporting that Giannis Antetokounmpo was at least open to exploring a future outside of Milwaukee with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Once the season ends, everyone starts thinking about the offseason and the team's future.
The Magic have plenty to think about and they made it clear during exit interviews. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said it plainly at exit interviews that the team would be making more win-now moves and entering a new phase in their rebuild.
Plenty of commentators have been talking about the Magic as a potential destination for big-name free agents for a long time now. The Magic clearly need guard depth and perhaps a true point guard. They certainly need shooting.
And so one rumor refuses to die. But it is still a rumor the Magic should avoid.
Orlando must be aggressive this offseason, but the team must still be careful as it navigates the realities of the first apron and luxury tax. Avoiding the second apron until the team is ready to win a championship.
What might seem like a perfect fit may not actually be what the Magic need. And sometimes, idle daydreaming is just that.
Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported on The Stein Line reported that the market for Trae Young not be as cool as they previously reported, citing one talent evaluator who said the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets would benefit from his offensive gifts while having the infrastructure to hide him defensively.
Young has long been a favorite star target for the Magic. The matchup of needs has been too clear to pass over. This is a rumor that will not seem to die.
Young would be a truly transformational player. He is gravity unto himself with his ability to shoot from well behind the 3-point line -- shooting 34.0 percent from three on 8.4 attempts per game last year and 35.2 percent on 7.5 attempts per game for his career. He is also an incredible pick-and-roll player and passer with a league-leading 11.6 assists per game and at least 10.0 assists per game in the last three seasons.
The Magic have never had a player average 10.0 assists per game in a season in franchise history.
Trae Young thrived with an All-Defensive team running mate in Dyson Daniels next to him last year, too. Atlanta had a 114.6 defensive rating with Young on the floor, 0.2 points per 100 possessions better than the team's average, and the team had a 113.5 defensive rating with Young and Daniels on the floor together.
There may be something to it that Orlando could hide Young a bit better defensively. Then again, the Playoffs have become all about exploiting matchups. And Young would be a matchup to exploit.
With two more years starting at $46 million on his contract, Young would be very expensive and likely cost one of the Magic's two current $30 million players (Franz Wagner or Jalen Suggs) to make a deal happen.
When it comes to any of these high-priced stars -- whether it is Trae Young, Giannis Antetokounmpo or LaMelo Ball (even Anfernee Simons) -- the Magic have to consider their finances and whether they want to dip into the second apron.
For how Young seemingly wills offenses into a top-10 unit by his presence alone (not this year, Atlanta was 17th in offensive rating this year), he is not the dream fit that everyone would imagine.
But adding Young would be a complete change to the Magic's whole identity. He has been a player who dominates possessions -- last year's 29.6 percent usage rate was just the second season in his career with a usage rate less than 30 percent. He would have to learn how to play off the ball to give Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner just as much as they would benefit and learn from playing off of him.
This gets to the central question for the Magic's offseason: What is the purpose of their project?
All indications are that Weltman still believes in continuity and still believes in building a team centered on his two young stars in Banchero and Wagner. He is not likely looking to take the ball out of their hands too much. And Young would certainly do that.
There are the financial considerations too as the Magic flirt with the aprons. It makes it incredibly tough to take on a player like Young. Especially when there are some clear signs it will not work.
Yes, the Magic need shooting, volume shooting and spacing. Yes, the Magic need creators, organizers and point guards. Young would check off those boxes.
But he is imperfect because he fundamentally changes the character of this project. And locks the Magic into a certain kind of roster for the foreseeable future. Young is the final move of a team trying to win a title, not the left turn to make a tweak to a weakness.
Everyone is still going to talk. The dots are too easy to connect. And the Magic may have at one time been interested in the idea.
But Young is not the answer for the Magic right now. The team does not want to change its character and Young is a star to avoid.