Goga Bitadze’s Media Day comments should scare rest of Eastern Conference

Media Day found the Magic’s roster in good spirits. The team was happy to be back in Orlando and get to work for the new season. After last season’s success, they felt like they had a lot of work to do, a lot to prove, and a lot of motivation to do so. 

Few things are more exciting for a young team than its first breakthrough to the playoffs and the experience of playing at the next level. The Magic experienced that quickly. Paolo Banchero was just in his second season, and none of the core players are even 25 years old yet. 

To say that the Magic are motivated to continue winning would be an understatement. Last season was a surprise, but this time around, everything the Magic do will be intentional. The team will only continue to get better and rise in the standings. 

Paolo Banchero already declared on First Take that he believed the Magic could finish at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. If that confidence didn’t give their opponents something to think about, Goga Bitadze’s comments at Media Day should. 

Goga Bitadze said there was a different energy when the Magic came together for the new season 

Goga Bitadze was the first to clearly address how much the Magic were hoping to improve this season and what last season’s experience meant for the team. It is not good news for the rest of the Eastern Conference. 

“Everybody’s like, okay, we made it to the playoffs, we made it to a Game 7, [but] nobody is satisfied…we know that we can do a lot more,” he said at Media Day. 

Bitadze then added that everyone was in better shape than they were last season and that the team was more locked in, coming into training camp with a different type of energy. Last season, the Magic were hoping to win. This season, they know they can. 

If this confidence and energy translate to the court, the rest of the Eastern Conference should watch out. While the Eastern Conference still features some teams expected to tank, it also features some incredibly strong teams. 

Someone will have to battle through the Play-In Tournament to get to the playoffs or deal with not having homecourt advantage. The Magic could overtake one of the teams projected to finish at the top of the standings and cause some disappointment for teams with much more pressure on them to win. After all, this group won 47 games last season when they weren’t really sure what they could do yet and had no pressure to win anything. Now, they know the bare minimum of what they are capable of and will only continue to get better. 

Other players echoed Bitadze’s statement. Wendell Carter Jr. said it was “only up from here” for the team, and Gary Harris declared that Paolo Banchero was locked in and ready for another great season. 

If Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs, among others, can take their games to the next level, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope fits right in, and they play with the same fire Bitadze’s comments suggested, the 2024-25 season should be even more exciting than last season.