Even though the 2024-25 campaign is still technically underway, as the Thunder and Pacers are currently duking it out in the NBA Finals, the Orlando Magic already seem to be preparing for the 2025-26 season and beyond.
Sunday, ESPN's NBA Insider Shams Charania broke the news that Orlando had agreed to terms on a blockbuster trade that will land them Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks, and one first-round pick swap.
Adding the 26-year-old to this Magic core certainly seems to make good on President Jeff Weltman's promise to strike on moves this summer with a "win-now lens," as his career averages of 17.8 points on 41.0 percent shooting from deep are bound to give the league's fourth-worst offensive producer a major boost.
However, regardless of how exciting Bane's addition may be, it still doesn't address the team's most glaring rotational need of a reliable starting point guard. Coughing up the lofty contract of KCP as well as a slew of future draft capital also severely lessens the likelihood of them pursuing such a commodity on the trade market this offseason.
As a result, this first apron-bound ball club may now need to look toward the bargain bin in free agency in hopes of landing a cost-efficient player who has proven themselves capable of serving as a trusty one-guard.
Fortunately for them, there's one name, in particular, who's slated to be available and should be at the top of Orlando's wish-list.
Magic must pursue Chris Paul in free agency after Desmond Bane trade
Chris Paul may be well beyond his All-Star days, but even at age 40, the Point God has still proven himself capable of efficiently running an offense as a team's primary floor general.
Paul started all 82 games for the first time in 11 years during his run with the San Antonio Spurs, and managed to dish out the sixth-most assists in the league with 605 in total (7.4 per game) while adding on averages of 8.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on 37.7 percent shooting from deep along the way.
From an advanced metrics standpoint, the veteran still projects as a highly valuable contributor, as he ranked second on the team in offensive rating and third in overall net rating among those who saw 30 or more games played.
Considering the Magic ranked second-worst in field goal attempts per game (85.8), 11-worst in open shots taken throughout the year (2,123), and dead-last in assists per game (23.0), it goes without saying that they could use someone who can create clean scoring looks for others with relative ease.
CP3 is the definition of a player who provides such a quality, as he ranks second all-time in career assists with 1,249.
While they may have several highly impressive bucket-getters within their arsenal, such as Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, and, now, Desmond Bane, as we've seen with teams like the Phoenix Suns, individual scoring threats without a quality point guard to help run the show will only go so far.
Because of this, whether it be with the taxpayer's MLE or a veteran's minimum contract, following Sunday's big time trade, the top free agency target for this Orlando Magic team should be future Hall of Fame floor general, Chris Paul.