Wendell Carter has been a great asset to the Orlando Magic's young core. He simply does all the dirty work that does not show up on the box score and leads to winning. He is a great locker-room presence too. And his teammates love him.
Every team needs a guy like that.
Certainly, teams with future championship aspirations like the Magic do even more so.
Carter has shown himself to be a solid floor spacer, he has had great defensive games against other opposing superstar big men. He has also proven to be a very deadly lob threat in the pick and roll, more specifically with Franz Wagner and Markelle Fultz.
He is simply the perfect modern-day big man. He checks all the boxes for what a team looks for in a center on and off the floor. The only knock on him is his oft-injury occurrences that hurt his team when he is absent on the floor.
This season, the Magic have been able to stay more than afloat since he broke his hand in early November with a 12-5 record without him. That is thanks to the franchise-record-tying nine-game win streak. Goga Bitadze has been able to replicate a lot of what Wendell Carter does for this team. Setting hard screens, rolling to the basket, finishing with authority, being a playmaker and dishing out great passes from the top of the key.
Like every NBA team, the Magic rely on their starting center to anchor their defensive end. When Carter is on top of his game, it just simply shifts the dynamic of the Magic to a whole other level.