Orlando Magic confidence meter: How confident are Magic fans heading into 2025?

The Bench

One of the Orlando Magic's true superpowers last year was their depth and bench. The Magic finished last season fourth in the league averaging 41.5 points per game off the bench.

Their main bench groups all won their minutes with the group of Cole Anthony, Gary Harris, Joe Ingles, Jonathan Isaac and Moritz Wagner posting a +4.0 net rating (105.8/101.8 offensive/defensive rating) in 102 minutes. The group of Cole Anthony, Gary Harris, Franz Wagner, Jonathan Isaac and Moritz Wagner posted a +21.1 net rating (111.4/90.3) in 81 minutes together.

Because of all the injuries the Magic never really unleashed their bench potential fully. But it was one of their biggest strengths last year and helped them stay level through the season's ups and downs.

Bench scoring can be consistent—the Indiana Pacers led the league in bench scoring each of the past two years. But it can also be wildly inconsistent—the Los Angeles Lakers were fourth in 2023 in bench scoring but 28th last year.

And if there are massive changes anywhere to the Magic, it is to their bench group, even if a lot of the pieces are going to be the same.

There is clearly a lot of confidence in what the Magic can do.

Everyone expects Jamahl Mosley to run a 10-man rotation with bench units primarily anchored by Franz Wagner. Everyone is expecting frustration because Jett Howard or Tristan da Silva are not getting the minutes everyone feels they need. They have a high-quality emergency center with Goga Bitadze.

But there is still a lot of uncertainty with this bench group.

The Magic's major losses were two of their best playmakers and passers in Markelle Fultz and Joe Ingles. They will be asking Anthony Black to step up with his playmaking off the bench as much as they are asking Jalen Suggs to help support the starters.

If there is a little bit of concern for the Magic to repeat their success from last year, it is because the team has lost something off its bench and there is a lot of uncertainty that group is facing. Even if they are adding a quality shooter in Gary Harris to the group and have some shooting depth now.