The Orlando Magic's 2024 season will go down as one of the truly special seasons in Magic history.
The team ended a decade-long rebuild it seemed with the kind of surprise playoff run that felt like a natural growth for their young roster and the beginning of a long playoff run. Paolo Banchero made the All-Star team in his second season and then backed it up with a stellar Playoff showing.
Even making the Playoffs saw the Magic compete and get on the doorstep of the second round, taking an 18-point lead in the first half of Game 7.
In many ways, the Magic seemed like they overachieved this season. It felt like they arrived earlier than everyone could have expected.
That is all a good thing. This was a good season.
Orlando accomplished its baseline goal of reaching the Playoffs. That was the most important thing for this young team's development. They got put under Playoff pressure to see how the team would respond and had many of their flaws exposed.
Even with that, the Magic persevered and showed they had the mettle to compete and win. They left at least a few people thinking they should have won the series and that they left an opportunity on the court.
That should leave the team with something to be hungry for this offseason as they look to improve—both the individuals on the court and the management building the team.
The overall result of the season, though, will be something the team can hold onto throughout the offseason. The Magic were much further ahead than anyone anticipated. And during exit interviews, the team was excited about what they had just accomplished.
Still, there is a lot for the Magic to assess and learn from this season. There is a lot they must examine as they make their final assessments for this season and look ahead to what they must do to improve during this important offseason.
It is worth it for everyone to take a step back now, three weeks after the season ended, and assess what went right that the team can build on and what went wrong that the Magic need to be looking to shore up.
3 things that went right for the Orlando Magic in 2024
3. Building a defensive identity
The Orlando Magic made it pretty clear they were going to bill themselves as a defensive team. That was what Jeff Weltman professed as part of the team he wanted to build. It is certainly the kind of player the Magic have spent their time drafting over the years.
When the team made progress at the end of the 2023 season after their 5-20 start, it was because of their defense. Orlando had the sixth-best defense in the league after Dec. 8 last year. That seemed to set the team up to be a defensive team this year.
Nobody likely saw the Magic doing what they did this year even with that positive step in 2023.
Orlando's success in 2024 was built almost entirely on the team's elite level of defense. The Magic finished third in the league in defensive rating, giving up 110.8 points per 100 possessions. Orlando was suffocating on the interior and scrambled well to contest at the three-point line.
The only weakness to the Magic's defensive philosophy was their fouling—and then their struggles to reduce turnovers to ensure they could set that defense up. Even without a traditional shot-blocker, Orlando was tough to score on in every way.
A lot of that had to do with the tone set by Jalen Suggs.
Teammates and coaches often described him as the "head of the snake" for the team. He was their spiritual leader and set the energy level that everyone had to meet. He raised everyone's intensity. It was easy to see why he was a Second-Team All-Defensive Team player.
Suggs had career highs in scoring as health and a clear vision for his role helped him make the most of his talents. But his intensity and energy on defense defined the team. His selflessness and energy elevated the team.
Orlando may have difficulty copying the camaraderie and togetherness of this year's team. But with Suggs, the team should always have its glue.
And defense will remain the biggest part of this tam and its success. That is the foundation they set in the 2024 season.
3 things that went wrong for the Orlando Magic in 2024
3. Offensive Inconsistency
As good as the Orlando Magic's defense was, the offense was still a work in progress. A major work in progress.
Not that this was not expected for the team.
The concern for the Magic in the preseason was going to be about whether the Magic would be able to score enough points. That was why many projected the Magic as an improved team but a team that would stay in the Play-In conversation because of their defense.
Orlando was able to overcome its offensive inconsistencies. But those inconsistencies remained. And it was a difficult thing for the team to overcome in the Playoffs as the team's poor three-point shooting, particularly on the road, made things difficult in the Playoffs.
The Magic still have a bit of terrible history in that they have not been out of the bottom 10 of the league in offensive rating since Dwight Howard's departure in 2012. That streak will likely end soon with what the Magic are anticipated to do this offseason.
But Orlando finished 22nd in the league with a 112.9 offensive rating, the worst offensive rating among all teams that made the postseason. The Magic's defense covered up a lot of errors and mistakes.
The Magic left a lot of points on the board too. They were 26th in turnover rate at 15.0 percent and they were 26th in free throw percentage despite taking the most free throws in the league. These are areas the team should improve.
But everyone rightly focuses on the three-point shooting as a place the team must improve. They have to create space.
Orlando finished 24th in three-point field goal percentage and 29th in attempts per game. Being a low-volume and poor three-point shooting team was a formula that proved difficult to overcome on a nightly basis.
Jeff Weltman was correct to point out that the Magic were 14th in the league in three-point field goal percentage after Jan. 1 and thus 14th in offensive rating. There is a good offensive team in the Magic. Or at least an average one.
But scoring consistently was still a problem. And it got more difficult as the team got squeezed in the Playoffs, particularly away from home.
3 things that went right for the Orlando Magic in 2024
2. Paolo Banchero's All-Star Breakthrough
No doubt, the Orlando Magic's season and development were always going to turn on how much Paolo Banchero improved and how he closed in on becoming an All-Star.
That is how things go. Teams go as far as their stars will take them. And Banchero it seemed was someone who could take the team very far.
Banchero improved on all of his numbers from his historic rookie season, averaging 22.6 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game and 5.4 assists per game. His shooting splits improved from 42.7/29.8/73.8 to 45.5/33.9/72.5. Banchero took some sizable leaps throughout the season.
He was even better during the Playoffs. Banchero averaged 27.0 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game and 4.0 assists per game in the Playoffs, shooting 45.6 percent from the floor, 40.0 percent from three and 75.5 percent from the foul line.
A lot of that improvement started with his shooting. This was the area where people tried to poke holes in his surefire Rookie of the Year campaign.
He improved there, shooting 40.0 percent from mid-range according to tracking data from NBA.com, and improved to 64.2 percent in the restricted area on more than five attempts per game.
And to add to that point, only 41.7 percent of Banchero's shots were assisted. He had to create a lot and even essentially ran point guard for the team. Orlando's whole purpose this offseason should be figuring out ways to make Banchero's life easier.
If the Magic needed to see anything in the Playoffs, it was how Banchero would react to the pressure and defensive attention he would receive in the Playoffs. He still struggled with turnovers as any 21-year-old in their first Playoff series might, but Banchero proved he was a primetime player. He had three 30-point games and had 38 in Game 7.
Orlando exited the Playoffs knowing they have a true star in the making.
Everything for a team starts with its star. That is a truth throughout the league. And the Magic have their star.
3 things that went wrong for the Orlando Magic in 2024
2. Franz Wagner's poor shooting
As good as Paolo Banchero was in his second season and the clarity he provided the Orlando Magic's roster, the Magic's second star leaves the season with a lot of questions.
It is not that Franz Wagner had a poor season. It is not that there was a bad taste in everyone's mouth left from his 1-for-15 showing in Game 7. Wagner still had a career year by a lot of measures.
But the areas Wagner struggled with throughout the season have defied much explanation. He just could not shoot at all.
Wagner averaged a career-high 19.7 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game and 3.7 assists per game. The number that stood out though was his three-point shooting which dipped from 36.1 percent as a sophomore to 28.1 percent on 4.6 attempts per game this year.
Overall, Wagner shot 31.5 percent on three-pointers where the closest defender was 6-plus feet away and 25.7 percent on three-pointers where the closest defender was 4-6 feet away. He totaled 4.3 attempts per game on these "open" threes.
Last year, he made 41.6 percent of his three-pointers where the closest defender was 6+ feet away and 31.8 percent on three-pointers where the closest defender was 4-6 feet away on 4.3 attempts per game on these threes.
Wagner still shot better than a 50-percent effective field goal percentage. His season was not a complete wash by any stretch. He drove the ball more effectively, making 53.7 percent of his shots on 11.7 drives per game. He got to the line significantly more this year.
And even if you want to criticize his playoff showing (particularly his Game 7), Wagner averaged 18.9 points per game. He still scored plenty, including a 30-point showing in Game 4.
The Magic's belief in Wagner should not waver one bit. He should still be due a big extension—possibly even a max extension this offseason.
But Wagner is going to have to bounce back next year. There is no reason to think he will not.
3 things that went right for the Orlando Magic in 2024
1. Camaraderie and Togetherness
The Orlando Magic knew very early on they had something special. The rest of the league had a sense of it too.
The Magic were constantly described as playing extremely hard—usually a backhanded compliment to teams that are not winning a lot of games but are still engaged and doing the right things. They were constantly described as having something of a college vibe and atmosphere.
Everyone took notice of it. And when the Magic started winning, it remained something that differentiated the Magic.
A season that early on everyone felt would be similar to the 2000 Heart and Hustle team quickly became something more. This team did not just play hard; they were endearing and seemed so tight and together. That is how the team survived early season injuries and stuck together through all the ups and downs of the season.
It may have ended up being a strength that carried the team through most of the season. The Magic stuck together and created a culture that meant something.
Jeff Weltman has often dismissed the term culture, especially in a rebuilding context. But there is an undeniable culture the Magic have built.
More than the Xs and Os, Jamahl Mosley created an environment where players solved problems on their own, held each other accountable, and took true ownership of their success. Mo Wagner said it repeatedly—but first during the team's nine-game win streak in November—the success this season was not built just in this season. It was built over three years of working and playing together.
The 2024 season was about how this team grew over the next three years.
Replicating this camaraderie and togetherness will be the Magic's biggest challenge. If there is a concern about this summer and adding to the roster, it is disrupting the chemistry the team built. That is the reason the Magic stood pat at the trade deadline. The risk of interrupting what the team had built was not worth it.
Betting on that proved correct. The Magic went 20-11 after the trade deadline and clinched the 5-seed. Now the team has to figure out how to bottle and replicate it for next season.
3 things that went wrong for the Orlando Magic in 2024
1. Injuries remained key
Orlando Magic fans would often point to the site ManGamesLost.com to explain why they were so far behind. The Magic the last two years were among the league leaders in losing games to injury. In fact, they were often lapping the field.
It is hard to be successful in the league when key players are out. Availability is the best ability.
The Magic were better this year. Jonathan Isaac did not miss the entire season. Franz Wagner missed a couple of weeks with sprained ankles. Paolo Banchero only sat out two games. Orlando was very healthy.
And yet, injuries were still the story. And injuries remain a major concern for the team heading into next season.
Just four games into the season, Markelle Fultz sat out for the majority of the next 30 games with left knee tendinitis—itwas later revealed that he had a small fracture in that knee.
During that game too, Wendell Carter skied for a game-clinching rebound and fractured his hand. Carter missed the next 21 games. It was revealed after the season Carter would need a second surgery on that hand. He admitted that he tried to come back quickly and put a lot of pressure on himself.
It is a credit to the Magic that Anthony Black and Goga Bitadze stepped into the lineup and more than held the boat steady. Orlando went on a nine-game win streak with both starters out and nearly advanced in the NBA's In-Season Tournament.
Undoubtedly, Fultz and Carter had their worst seasons in a Magic uniform. Fultz averaged only 7.8 points per game settling into a bench role. And Carter averaged 11.0 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game.
The Magic are now pondering how to replace Fultz as the starting point guard (he is unlikely to re-sign this summer as a free agent, although perhaps the Magic bring him back on a reduced salary at the end of the summer). And they may be thinking about whether Carter is the right answer at center.
Both players will need bounceback seasons wherever they end up.
Injuries are a story every year. How a team handles and manages those injuries often defines their season. Orlando was better equipped to deal with injuries this season than in the previous two years of their rebuild.
Still, it is hard to think the Magic were not held back again by injuries. Perhaps Orlando did not get a full picture of their team.