The Orlando Magic are wrapping up the best season they have had since Stan Van Gundy was the coach and Dwight Howard was manning the paint. With 10 games left in the regular season, the Magic are a top-5 seed in the Eastern Conference, on pace to avoid the Play-In Tournament, and make their first playoff appearance since the 2020.
While that was just a few years ago, a lot has changed for Orlando since.
The roster has a couple of familiar faces in Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz. But for the most part, the team has been completely overhauled into a new era of Magic basketball.
Young, exciting, talented and seemingly full of winners – it has been a fun journey for Magic fans to follow this team this season and all of that winning and the “Play the Song!” memes have helped heal a starving fan base.
As the playoffs approach - so does the opportunity for this Magic team to gain valuable playoff experience and make a splash in big moments in front of NBA fans all across the country (and not just those who have NBA League Pass).
Whether it be shining bright for the casual fan to see or proving you are a player built for the world stage and critical moments, there is so much to gain in the NBA postseason for everyone involved.
Orlando has no shortage of candidates who have a lot to prove in the Playoffs. But looking at the current Magic roster, here are the 5 Orlando Magic players with the most to gain from the 2024 NBA postseason.
Orlando Magic players with the most to gain from the 2024 NBA Playoffs
A star is born: Paolo Banchero
Starting it out here with the obvious: Paolo Banchero is the Orlando Magic player with the single most to gain from this postseason. The frustrating part is that the only reason he has the most to gain is because the national media still refuses to promote one of the best young NBA players since LeBron James at the level he deserves.
Even with the understanding that Orlando is a small market team that has had limited historical success, it is baffling to see the lack of hype surrounding the second-year player who is also only the fourth player 21 years or younger in the last 40 seasons to have a career average of 20-plus points, 6-plus rebounds, and 4-plus assists per game.
Who did he join on that list? Just a few guys you might have heard of named: Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Those guys all turned out to be pretty good.
It is fair to say Banchero is not getting nearly the same love and attention those guys got early on.
If Banchero shows up in the postseason in front of a national audience the way he has shown up for Orlando all season long, he has a chance to make it undeniable. There would be no hiding it anymore.
He is one of the NBA’s best young talents. He is a franchise player you build your team around. And he is worthy of being talked about as a perennial All-Star and future superstar in this league.
These are things Magic fans already know and we are close to the rest of the world seeing for themselves.
Orlando Magic players with the most to gain from the 2024 NBA Playoffs
Underated no more: Franz Wagner
Much Like Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner can become a household name among NBA fans this postseason. He just needs the bright lights of a national stage to make his talent and skillset universally respected.
Exceling at all levels in his young pro career, Wagner has quickly impressed regardless of NBA or international competition.
The Berlin native was on the 2022 NBA All-Rookie Team First team, was selected to the NBA Rising Stars team in 2022 and 2023, and won the 2023 FIBA World Cup for Germany where he and his brother Moe Wagner beat a stacked USA team on their run to winning the championship.
Despite all the accolades and success, Wagner still feels underrated.
He is never mentioned among the league’s best young players or international talents despite only being 22 and averaging nearly 20 points per game for one of the Eastern Conference's best teams this season.
For better or for worse the NBA is often a narrative-driven league and Wagner and the rest of the Magic roster have lacked the opportunity to show what they can do in front of the entire country.
If Wagner and the Magic can make some waves in April and even into May, the narrative could quickly change for another Magic player who has performed at a level higher than the praise he receives.
Orlando Magic players with the most to gain from the 2024 NBA Playoffs
Another franchise cornerstone: Jalen Suggs
Jalen Suggs is one of the few Orlando Magic players who is probably already a household name. But more so for his time in college at Gonzaga and being one of the biggest stars of the 2021 NCAA tournament and season.
His half-court bank shot at the buzzer to beat UCLA in the Final Four is a clip we will see every March until the end of time.
But for the Magic, Suggs is still making a name for himself on the NBA court through is his third professional season.
Drafted as a combo guard into a crowded backcourt, there were questions as to whether Suggs would run the 1 or the 2 in Orlando and if he would be able to develop sharing minutes with Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz.
Fast forward to the present day, and Jalen Suggs is THE starting shooting guard for the Magic starting in all 64 of his appearances this season. He has become one of the best defenders in the league and is the heart of this team.
This transition to the starting lineup has mostly been propelled by his high energy on defense and his ability to improve his 3-point percentage each year, culminating in a respectable 39.8 percent entering Wednesday's game. He is also shooting 46.4 percent from the field in total.
For Suggs, this postseason is not so much about working his way into future All-Star conversations.
Rather, Suggs has a lot to gain by proving he is the present and FUTURE starting shooting guard in Orlando.
While he cannot lose that position this postseason, he can make great strides toward it. Especially since Orlando could be ready to make a splashy trade or free agency move this offseason depending on how the playoffs go.
No Suggs probably will not become the face of the franchise this postseason, but if he performs well or puts on a show, he can join Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner as the future pieces to the organization's long-term success.
With the new financial rules put in place by last season's updated CBA, homegrown talent would be the preferable way to build a franchise so Orlando will be evaluating his play. We will see if Suggs can do enough to prove he is the man of the future in Orlando.
Orlando Magic players with the most to gain from the 2024 NBA Playoffs
What busts?: Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac
Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac have had some similarities in the early parts of their NBA careers.
Both were top picks in the 2017 NBA draft where Isaac was taken No. 6 by the Orlando Magic and Markelle Fultz was the unanimous top prospect in the draft at that time to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Take a minute to process and remember that last point. Markelle Fultz was the unanimous top prospect in a draft that included Lonzo Ball, Jayson Tatum, De'Aaron Fox, Donovan Mitchell and many other modern-day big-name players.
Isaac was considered one of the best defensive players in the draft and someone who in 6-7 years (present-day ironically) had the potential to be the best player from that draft class.
Unfortunately for both players, neither have lived up to hype. Injuries were both constant and impactful.
While on the 76ers, Fultz battled with one of the more bizarre injury stories in recent NBA memory. A victim of a hard-to-diagnose condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome that limits movement in the neck and shoulders.
Fultz spent the end of his time in PHiladelphia constantly missing games and when he did play he struggled.
Once properly diagnosed, treated and traded to Orlando, Fultz has been a regular starter at times for the Magic and a good NBA point guard during his time in the City Beautiful.
But NBA fans aside from the Magic seem to have forgotten about him. And then an ACL injury further put him behind the 8-ball and it still seems he is recovering from it after dealing with left knee tendinitis throughout this season.
Isaac has always been with the Magic, but you would be hard to say he has played his full time in Orlando. INjuries were the story for him throughout from an ankle injury to the knee injuries that robbed him of two full seasons.
Since his rookie season in 2018, he has only played in 201 total career NBA games. Mostly due to a variety of leg injuries that have been long-term or season-ending, Isaac is no stranger to the injury bug and his time away from the court has impacted both the perception of his skill as well as his development.
Despite the hiccups, when on the court Isaac has proven to be a good player.
An elite-level defender at times who has shown major growth in his offensive game, Isaac remains one of the most fascinating players on the Magic's roster.
He averages about 2.4 “stocks” (a combination of steals and blocks) per game for his career and has averaged around 40 percent from the 3-point line in the past two seasons when healthy. For comparison, Rudy Gobert and Anthony Davis average 2.8 and 3.6 stocks per game respectively and Karl-Anthony Towns shoots about 42.3 percent from three.
With some big moments, games, or series in the 2024 NBA playoffs, Fultz or Isaac may be set up to remind the world why they were drafted so high in 2017.
The NBA fans may have written off Fultz and Isaac, but they still have not written back. It would be poetic to see one of these two (if not both) players who have been through so much have a meaningful impact for Orlando this postseason for the entire world to see.