The NBA Draft has passed.
It is not yet clear what role the Orlando Magic intend for Izaiyah Nelson, their lone selection. It is probably not smart to count on the 51st pick in the Draft for major minutes. But as Jeff Weltman loves to say, the Magic need to give rookies a runway and a path to playing.
That then leads into the question of what position the Magic envision Nelson playing. He is a bit undersized to play center, but the team has Noah Penda at power forward as another young player they need to develop.
Having picked Nelson 51st, it is not crazy to believe the Magic will sign Nelson to a two-way contract and sidestep any rotation or playing concerns for at least his rookie year.
Still, the Magic invested a draft pick in a position that seemed fairly settled with depth.
Wendell Carter, Goga Bitadze and Moe Wagner are not the best center rotation in the league. Many believe that the team could use an upgrade to the starting lineup. But this has been a mostly workable rotation for the last three years.
Adding another center to the mix by its definition throws things in flux.
Nelson is an energy big. Ultimately, he is the 51st pick. It is hard to lean on him too much. Orlando should not be planning for him to be anything more than its third center. But that inevitably pushes out one of the Magic's more established centers.
To be sure, this offseason was already pulling at the Magic's centers for several reasons. Drafting Nelson only brings that further into focus as the league enters the next phase of this offseason.
Goga Bitadze on the move?
For now, the Orlando Magic's public posture is that they want to maintain their starting five. That decision is animating most of the moves, or non-moves, of this offseason so far.
If the starting five -- along with Anthony Black, who is set to sign an extension this offseason -- are off the table, the biggest salary the Magic likely truly have available to trade is Goga Bitadze. Even that is not very much -- $8.3 million if he is dealt before June 30, the start of the new NBA year, and $7.6 million after.
Still, that is the salary ballast the Magic have to move. If Orlando wants to add a player of any significance, it seems to be focused on what the Magic could get for Bitadze.
He is the big trade piece the Magic have if they are not going to touch their starting lineup.
That inevitably puts the center rotation in some question.
Bitadze can be a bit inconsistent. But when he is on, he looks like one of the better backup bigs in the league.
He is an excellent shot blocker. He averaged 1.0 block per game last year and at least 1.0 block per game in all three of his full seasons in Orlando. He had a team-leading 52.1 percent defensive field goal percentage according to Second Spectrum.
The Magic are desperate for rim protection. That is why it would be hard to get rid of Bitadze.
But that is something Izaiyah Nelson is good at, having blocked 1.4 shots per game at USF last year. It will be interesting to see how he translates to the NBA.
It is already easy to see that Nelson could help replace what the Magic might lose in a Bitadze trade. Even if Orlando should find a backup center otherwise.
What is Moe Wagner's future?
The other question facing the Orlando Magic's center rotation is Moe Wagner.
Wagner is a free agent once again this season after signing a one-year, $5-million deal last summer. He surely is hoping to get a similar deal somewhere. But he also struggled after returning from a torn ACL in January.
Wagner appeared in 36 games and averaged only 6.9 points per game, his fewest since joining the team. He shot only 42.6 percent from the floor and 31.4 percent from three.
Perhaps Wagner deserves some grace. Returning from a major injury like a torn ACL takes time. The old saying is that it is a year to return to the court and then another year to get all the way back to pre-injury levels.
Wagner still had eight games with 10 or more points. He showed hints of his ability to gobble up points with his low-post play and 3-point shooting ability.
Despite playing only 36 games, he trailed only Jalen Suggs with five charges drawn. That is the kind of player Wagner is.
If his offensive game regains its rhythm, it covers for his defensive shortcomings. He has always been willing, as his charges evidence, but he is not a rim protector at all.
Those defensive shortcomings have always made Wagner's position on the team a bit tenuous, even with how valuable and reliable he was offensivley and off the bench -- the Magic's bench scoring sank after Wagner's injury in Dec. 2024.
Wagner is a free agent again this summer. And it is unclear whether the Magic will bring him back, despite his relationship with the team and his brother Franz, or whether Moe will have to search elsewhere. It seems Moe Wagner is likely to be a minimum signing wherever he lands.
And that is why Izaiyah Nelson could be valuable as a third center. The Magic have a third center and energy player built in if they end up losing Wagner this summer.
It is still unclear how good and ready Nelson might be to contribute. But his presence undoubtedly throws the Magic's center rotation into some flux.
That is what a pick is supposed to do to get playing time. Everything will be earned, of course. And the Magic's center position is under scrutiny this offseason.
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