Orlando Magic fans entered the offseason with big dreams. That is what loads of cap room will do for a franchise. Especially one that has struggled to find much of a direction for the past decade.
The Magic were active pretty quickly. They agreed to terms Sunday evening on a three-year, $66 million contract with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, taking care of the starting guard position that was the most urgent position to fill this offseason.
Everyone was then curious to see what the Magic would do. Everyone suspected the team would bring back Mo Wagner even after declining his team option. Everyone suspected the team would try to bring Goga Bitadze back.
But the rest of Orlando's offseason was spent bringing back everyone else from the Magic's 2024 roster. They re-signed Bitadze to a three-year, $25 million deal. They retained Gary Harris on a two-year, $15 million deal. And they kept Mo Wagner on a two-year, $22 million.
Orlando even used extra cap room to extend Jonathan Isaac's contract on a five-year, $84 million deal.
The Orlando Magic lost Joe Ingles to free agency after he signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. But the team is going to look very familiar this year to last year.
As the Magic did last year, they are betting on continuity to carry them forward. That was something that mattered to them last year—Wagner, most notably, always talked about how the success in 2024 was not merely about this season but about three years of building together. The Magic are going to bet again on everyone's ownership over this project to elevate the franchise.
They are betting they can invest in their depth once again. The team will likely integrate new players in Tristan da Silva, Anthony Black and Jett Howard into the rotation. But everything is a competition. And the Magic should know what they are getting with so many returning faces.
There will be changes to the lineup and the rotation. The Magic added a new starter to the mix. But this is largely the same team that finished 47-35 and the 5-seed in the Eastern Conference last year. Only time will tell if the Magic can repeat their success.
On paper, the team got better just by adding Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the roster. But there is at least a tinge of disappointment that there were not many major changes to the team. Continuity is boring especially when it seems like there is an opportunity to get better and mix things up. There is something to perhaps things getting stale and changing roles to force growth.
Time will tell whether the Magic's bet on continuity works out again. But the Magic are not bringing players back for any favors. These players add something to the team. And there is a reason they are coming back.
Not that Magic fans did not know that already.