It is already almost the All-Star Break in the NBA with All-Star voting opening up this week for the next month, which means that the trade deadline is nearing.
For the first time in a long time, the Orlando Magic may be in a position to buy instead of sell. Currently, they sit in the 4-seed in the Eastern Conference which would give them home court advantage if the season ended today.
The Magic are playing great basketball, honestly probably even better then they thought they would be playing so far this year. Orlando has shown the team can hang with the best of the best and that they are not the same lottery pick team they have been in years prior.
This leaves them with a lot of questions about how they want to go about the rest of the season. Getting some playoff experience is critical in the Magic's growth. But they have to decide how high they think their ceiling is and how far they want to push the team for this season, especially with the deadline coming up.
They also have to figure out how close they are to contending.
Maybe they think they are one piece away from being able to compete with teams like the Boston Celtics and Milwakuee Bucks or maybe they think they need a lot of pieces and there is some more heavy lifting to come. Maybe they think their young stars still need to grow before they expend assets to push them over the top.
Who knows? They might not make any moves at the deadline at all and just continue to bank on this team's chemistry and continuity to guide them this season.
However the Magic do have an excess of guards on their team when everyone is healthy and a lack of wing depth. These roster issues will also most likely get accesed at the deadline as well. Who the Magic decide to go after depends on which on which route they decide to take.
Here are the three directions the Magic could go in as we look ahead to the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
Orlando Magic can pick their development speed at the trade deadline
Scenario #1: Trade for a star
The least likely however still a very possible scenario is the Orlando Magic trade for a star at the deadline.
The Magic would be a perfect supporting cast for a superstar player, and one of the league's best players might also push them over the edge and make them a top team in the East.
They have two all-star caliber players already, a sixth man of the year candidate and possibly the best backup center in basketball, along with elite defenders in Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac and Wendell Carter. Despite their shooting problems, they have capable shooters in Joe Ingles, Gary Harris and Caleb Houstan.
This is everything a proven star would need to succeed.
If the Magic truly think they can contend or that they are one piece away from winning a title this year or next, then another star might be necessary to bring in.
Nowadays teams must have two to three All-Star caliber players to contend and adding another elite player would make them a top contender in the East.
Most Magic fans reading this are probably disgusted at this thought and do not want to stunt the growth of their two young stars.
Nonetheless, that is not the case at all, adding another star player will not hurt Banchero and Wagner's growth, it will make their lives a lot easier, assuming he is a playmaker and can play off the forward duo.
As alluded to earlier, teams in today's game can have two or three 20-point-per-game scorers or at least three people all scoring 18-plus. Adding a star player and pushing Banchero to the second option and Wagner to the third will make the Magic's offense one of the most feared in the league.
Banchero will not have all the pressure and focus on him and he will probably get a lot more open shots and he will be able to get to his spots easier, same with Wagner.
A proven star will also be able to pick up the slack through Wagner and Banchero's learning curves since they are both still young, and a star would also be able to teach them how to continue their paths to stardom.
As seen in basketball history, future stars learning from current stars goes a long way. Kobe Bryant was second fiddle to Shaquille O'Neal and then eventually led his team to back-to-back championships without O'Neal. Kyrie Irving played as the top option for the Cleveland Cavaliers, then played with LeBron James to win his title before going back to being a top option.
Jayson Tatum, a close comparison for Paolo Banchero, played alongside veteran stars like Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas and Kemba Walker early in his career before he took over as the team's superstar.
Learning to play with other elite talent is an underrated skill that all great players need to learn to succeed. Learning and watching one of the league's best could be a valuable experience for Banchero and Wagner while also putting them in a position to win now.
All these hypotheticals are great, but let's talk about specifics. Who is out there for them to get?
Normally trading for a star is hard and it is hard to find a team willing to give away a star. Also having assets to give away for a star is another factor that stops teams from acquiring stars. Luckily this season there are plenty of stars that could be on the go and the Magic have plenty of assets.
Let's start with who can they get.
The most realistic options are probably either Zach LaVine or DeMar DeRozan. The Bulls' experiment with LaVine and DeRozan seems to be coming to an end. The Bulls could be blowing it up at the deadline and the Magic could be buyers.
Lavine is averiging 21/4.9/3.4 and DeRozan is averiging 22.3/3.7/5.4. Both veterans are elite scorers who can elevate the Magic and teach their young stars.
But they are both limited. LaVine has never really impacted winning -- although he could be a complementary player to Bancher and Wagner if the magic want to push all in on offense -- and he is not considered a good defender.
DeRozan is a poor floor spacer and might cost too much considering his age and experience level.
Another option could be Donovan Mitchell. There are rumors of him wanting to leave Cleveland and the Magic could be a perfect landing spot. Of course, those rumors also widely assume Mitchell wants to end up with one of the two New York teams, so he may be an extended rental.
A few other "star" options would be Dejounte Murray, Anfernee Simons, and Pascal Siakam.
A new face of the Magic might mean a few fan favorites being shipped off, but if the Magic can compete for a banner while developing their young core then Magic fans are in for a treat for the next decade.
The question is whether they feel Banchero or Wagner need this kind of player with them on the floor and whether these two players canc ontinue growing and developing in this kind of scenario.
Orlando Magic can pick their development speed at the trade deadline
Scenario #2: Believe in Banchero and Wagner
If the Orlando Magic do not feel they can contend this season or maybe even next or just want to stick with the path they are on, then they need to go all in on Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner and ensure they are building around them and their strengths.
They are already competing at a high level, so they would only be a couple of pieces away from a championship. They just have to invest and augment their development.
This is the most likely path. Orlando is likely looking to boost the lineup they already have centeredon Banchero and Wagner. That still leaves them with work to do.
First, they would need a third option. Wagner and Banchero are both capable of scoring 20-plus points per game, but the Magic's third option varies from night to night.
Of the other three starters, Wendell Carter is not a shot-creator. Jalen Suggs and Markelle Fultz are more fit to be defenders and playmakers. And Cole Anthony has found success as a sixth man. The team's offense is still lagging overall even though the team has been able to cover it with a near-elite defense.
This means the Magic need another scoring option in their starting lineup to be able to contend.
Aside from that they just need another wing before their roster is complete. Joe Ingles, Jonathan Isaac and Chuma Okeke are their bench wings. Ingles and Isaac have been playing great, but Ingles is getting older and they are both injury-prone.
Okeke has also found himself out of rotation and likely will not be retained in the offseason. One more backup wing would complete their roster.
This means that they would need to make one to two trades over the next season or two to have the perfect roster around their two all-star caliber players.
Doing one of those trades at the deadline would make sense so they can start gelling and building chemistry as early as possible and even into their first postseason together.
Some options for a third option are Malcolm Brogdon, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson. All three can either start or come off the bench and offer a variety of skills the team is sorely missing.
Brogdon won Sixth Man of the Year in 2023. Even after getting injured, he has shown he is still an elite scorer for the Portland Trail Blazers. If he decides he wants to play for a contender then he could be the third option for the Magic.
As is Bojan Bogdanovic.
The Detroit Pistons, who are on a historic losing streak, are going to have to make changes and they will most likely move off of Bogdanovic and other veteran players. Bogdanovic is a capable shooter and scorer who might be better suited in a reserve role as an elite sixth man on a contending team.
Clarkson is another elite scorer that has been in plenty of trade rumors as well as the Utah Jazz continue their rebuild. He is the heir apparent to Jamal Crawford for elite bench scorers.
These are all elite scoring options who can create for themselves and make their teammates better. Any of these players would give the Magic a third option to put pressure on defenses and take pressure off of Banchero and Wagner.
If Banchero and Wagner are going to be a top duo then they are going to need a third option that they can trust and this deadline might be their best opportunity to find one.
Orlando Magic can pick their development speed at the trade deadline
Scenario #3: Wait until after the season
If the Orlando Magic can not figure out what direction they want to go in, then they can wait to finish the season to assess the roster and sit tight until the offseason.
Even though the sooner they can begin to create chemistry with new players the better, the Magic can choose to wait until after the season to make any big moves.
They can let the season play out, see how Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner handle the rest of the season as first and second options and also see what role players figure out and which do not fit. They could keep their roster the same or as mentioned before they could trade for some wing depth.
This is the most likely scenario for the typically conservative Magic front office under Jeff Weltman. And there has to be at least some concern with disrupting the chemistry and vibes that led to the team getting off to such a fast start.
This team is so young that they have not dealt with the sudden departure of key players and may not be ready for that kind of disruption to the team at this level.
In this scenario they do not need someone to play 82 games, but someone who will be ready to go and be the next man up when they have injuries or struggles. Spark guys who can hit some threes or get a stop.
Some players who would be perfect fits in this role would be Furkan Korkmaz, A.J Griffin and Otto Porter Jr. if the Magic are looking to make smaller moves this deadline.
Korkmaz has long wanted to get out of Philadelphia and take on some more minutes and he has a chance to do that in Orlando. He is a career 35.5% three-point shooter and he has a 111.8 career defensive rating.
A.J. Griffin is another player who can hit some open threes and play defense.
Griffin had a really solid rookie season hitting a couple of clutch buckets and playing great defense. After some injuries and some shooting struggles he now only plays just over nine minutes per game and could have a new start in Orlando if the Atlanta Hawks move off him.
Otto Porter Jr. is an older guy but is only going to be needed situationally which would be perfect for him at this stage of his career. In 12 minutes per game, he is shooting 36.4 percent from three and he has an above-average defensive rating.
He has, however, made only 12 appearances and so injuries are a concern for the veteran forward.
The Magic could benefit from all these players. They all have played in playoff series before and they all can shoot and defend which is what the Magic need. All of those players can bring assets on the court and knowledge off the court to help the Magic.
All the players are expendable too. They can all be moved off of if they do not fit or they are not succeeding in their role.
The Magic have time since they are such a young team and Magic fans should be excited to see what direction they go in.
The Magic have a lot of thinking to do in the next couple of months. There are a lot of players on the trade block and they need to figure out who they want and who they're willing to give up along with the direction of the team.
This trade deadline may be one to remember. This could be where the Magic find their missing piece to a future championship run. As rumors circulate and the stakes heighten, there will be a lot of noise in the media for the next couple of months.
What the Magic decide to do has to be decided soon and moves will most likely be made this February. Do not get comfortable Magic fans there might be some new faces in Orlando pretty soon, and some familiar faces leaving.