Everyone and their second cousin’s neighbor’s dog’s third-favorite overpriced squeaky-Raccoon toy knows the Orlando Magic desperately need an offensive infusion if they’re ever going to actualize their peak during the Paolo Banchero-Franz Wagner window. The acquisition of someone who checks some or all of the table-setting, floor-spacing, off-the-dribble-shot-making boxes is a matter of when not if.
The real question: Who will be that acquisition?
Plenty of names continue to be bandied about, each of them bringing varying levels of what the Magic offense needs. From LaMelo Ball and Anfernee Simons, to Coby White and Devin Booker, to free agents Ty Jerome and Tyus Jones, the speculation factory knows no bounds—or singular target.
This breadth of names can be interpreted negatively. It is actually a sign of the Magic’s optionality. They have the assets to enter all types of discussions, and their status as an already-good-if-healthy team suggests they needn’t inextricably fixate on the most marquee names.
Straddling the in-between may just make a world of difference. Then again, the right household name is certainly worth exploration. And on the heels of firing head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth, the Denver Nuggets may have the perfect kind of significant-but-not-too-seismic trade target for Orlando in Jamal Murray.
Jamal Murray’s fit in Orlando has the chance to be seamless
The Magic no doubt exist in a weird space. A team that has not ranked better than 17th in points scored per 100 possessions since 2011-12 shouldn’t technically be too choosy about who they add to juice the offense…so long as said player actually juices the offense.
But Orlando already has Banchero and Wagner, two layered initiators and scorers capable of spearheading stronger returns if surrounded by better (read: actual) spacing. Anybody in whom the Magic invest must also fit like a glove alongside them, filling in the team’s gaps without infringing upon the functional arcs of its franchise cornerstones.
That is a tall order when considering how ball-dominant playmakers and scorers can be. Murray looms among the most tantalizing exceptions. The 28-year-old has made a highly lucrative living while downing ultra-difficult, self-created jumpers and developing preternatural chemistry alongside offensive-system-unto-himself Nikola Jokic, effectively blurring the lines between alpha creator and superstar sidekick.
Striking that balance isn’t easy. Murray, for his part, is elite when it comes to maintaining it. He has rated in the 90th percentile or better of both off-ball gravity and self-created efficiency for three of the past four seasons, according to BBall Index.
The Magic do not have anyone who begins to match this meld of from-scratch creation and complementary shooting. Banchero and Wagner are the only rotation players who grade out as above-average in both self-created efficiency and off-ball gravity, and neither comes close to rivaling Murray’s own balance.
Adding him to the fold would open up things for everyone. Driving lanes for Banchero and Wagner would be much less congested. Defenses won’t be able to throw the kitchen sink at Orlando’s primary ball-handlers nearly as often. Screening actions in the half-court would take on new meaning. Splashier additions almost always require a learning curve, but this is one of those player-team fits that should sing right out of the gate.
Trading for Murray is not without risk
Of course, the Magic have to consider the downsides. And there are some.
Warring timelines isn’t an issue. Murray is a half-decade older than Banchero and Wagner, but not yet on the wrong side of 30, and age differences mean much less when your tent-pole kids are ready to win now.
Looking past Murray’s injury history is tougher. He has racked up a smorgasbord of lower-body injuries, including a torn left ACL that cost him all of 2021-22, and missed 17 or more games in each of the last five seasons. Even now, a strained right hamstring has cost him five consecutive appearances—and counting. The timeline for his return is unknown, to the extent that, prior to his firing, Malone couldn’t guarantee Murray would be ready for the playoffs.
Juggling this uncertainty with Murray’s price point further complicates matters. He is set to begin a four-year, $207.8 million next season. That’s a lot of coin to allocate toward a perpetual injury risk. It is an even shakier proposition when Wagner’s max extension takes effect in 2025-26, and when Banchero’s own (inevitable) max deal will kick in one year later.
If the current projections hold, a Murray trade leaves the Magic with over 79 percent of the $170.1 million salary cap in 2026-27 committed to him, a maxed-out Banchero and Wagner. That is steep. And it will get steeper if Orlando insists on retaining—and figures out a way to keep—Jalen Suggs as part of any deal.
How gettable is Jamal Murray for the Magic?
Whether the Nuggets’ (utterly inane) decision to clean house with three games left in the regular season results in Murray becoming available remains to be seen. It is difficult to envision them getting better while moving him, even if the Magic are willing to ship out Suggs as part of the return.
At the same time, it would have been difficult to believe they’d dismiss a championship head coach juuust before the playoffs. They did it anyway. Plus, new front-office regimes like to leave their imprints on the teams they’re taking over. We now know the Nugget are going to have a new front office this offseason.
Combine that with Murray’s injury history, and a Denver core that will brush up against the second apron by 2026-27 if everyone sticks around, and Jokic’s running mate feels far from untouchable.
Orlando also just so happens to have enough picks and team-friendly contracts and prospects to, in many cases, create their own trade market. And the full-strength version of Murray typifies everything this team needs and, when looking at his positional size, tends to value.
Are the Magic willing to pony up for it, at the expense of both their cap sheet and asset chest? If the past is precedent, the answer’s no. But given the state of the offense, it’s nothing if not time for them to set a new precedent.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.