As the NBA season quickly approaches, the Orlando Magic have been considered one of the winners of the offseason.
The team snuck up on a lot of the league to finish with the 5-seed and arrive at the playoffs ahead of schedule. They turned even more heads when they took the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games and built a sizable lead in the first half of Game 7.
The Magic were not front of mind for the league. But they were labeled the young team on the rise in the Eastern Conference. They are one of the best young teams in the league.
And they are a team eager to take their next step.
Orlando looked at its playoff trip last year and opted for what Keith Smith of Spotrac called a middle road. The team had excessive cap room but did not overspend it. The team made no trades to eat into their draft assets or disrupt their continuity. They did not seek a massive disruption to the development of their roster.
But they still made a significant move in adding Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three-year deal. They still made their team better.
It is no wonder Paolo Banchero likely echoes his team's confidence that they are ready to compete for the top of the Eastern Conference.
Constructing a team is not an easy thing to do. That Jeff Weltman has been able to keep his team's core intact this long is quite an amazing thing. Until the team lifts the big golden trophy at the end of the season, the job of putting a roster together is not done.
Quite clearly, Orlando has done the first stage of that build. They have a solid foundation for their team to grow from, built through the draft. The Magic added to that with a key free agent signing and continued drafting.
As the Magic prepare for the 2025 season, this is how they built their roster. And it previews what comes next for the team.