There is excitement for the 2025 season with the Orlando Magic.
The young team is building off its first playoff appearance and used its defense to get there. The Magic ranked third in the league in defensive rating and as they looked to build upon their foundation added a strong defender to their starting lineup.
To say the least, the Magic are expected to be strong defensively once again. That is the ticket to the team returning to the playoffs and will be the team's identity as they continue to improve and expand in the future.
That defense held up in the playoffs too. The Orlando Magic gave up just 100.0 points per 100 possessions in their playoff series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Magic's defense was consistently strong throughout the seven-game series too with only a 107.2 defensive rating in Game 5 and a 106.0 defensive rating in Game 7 standing out.
Orlando is a really good defensive team. Questions about whether the team would be able to sustain that defense into the postseason seemed unfounded with that performance.
Still, the Magic lost that series in the end. Jarrett Allen's presence in the first two games dominated the series on both ends. And his absence after Game 4 because of a rib injury he suffered early in the series opened the door for the Magic to bounce back.
There are indeed still a lot of questions about the Magic and their defense. And they start at center where the team lacks a true or traditional rim protector.
There are already a lot of questions laid at the feet of center Wendell Carter. With the Magic signing Franz Wagner to a max contract, bringing in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on a three-year deal and expected extensions for Jalen Suggs and Paolo Banchero, that leaves Wendell Carter as the only starter without a secure long-term future—he has two years remaining on his contract.
And even entering this offseason, there was some people who thought the Magic might spend their copious cap room on a center.
Carter is coming off his worst season since joining the Magic—11.0 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game. He struggled on the interior at times and his hand injury probably affected his ability to collect rebounds.
But Carter still made a real defensive impact. The Magic had a 109.6 defensive rating with Carter on the floor, trailing only Wagner among starters. In the playoffs, the Magic had a 100.5 defensive rating with Carter on the floor (0.5 points per 100 possessions worse than the team's overall average).
A hopeful bounceback season from Carter could revitalize belief in his defensive efforts. But Carter's game has always been about positioning more than raw athleticism. That lack of traditional rim protection is his biggest detraction.
A lack of rim protection is the Magic’s biggest issue defensively
This could still be a small thing that costs the Magic in the end. It is one of the few areas where the Magic were not among the best defensive teams in the league. And in the playoffs where the margins are so narrow, that could be vital to their success in the long run.
Still, Orlando averaged 5.3 blocks per game last season, 13th in the league. Jonathan Isaac certainly helps in that department. But so too did Goga Bitadze.
The Magic may not have traditional rim protectors, but they can get their share of blocks. And they do defend the paint and the rim well.
According to data from Second Spectrum, the Magic gave up 64.1 percent shooting at the rim. That ranked 12th in the league. That is seemingly not a terrible number. In the playoffs, the Cavs shot 62.8 percent at the rim against the Magic during their seven-game series.
Carter, often the most criticized among the Magic's rim protectors, gave up 58.4 percent shooting at the rim, trailing only Jonathan Isaac and Goga Bitadze on the team as a rim protector. According to data from Basketball Index, Carter's 0.71 blocks per 75 possessions put him in the 64th percentile in the league and his +17.00 rim points saved per 75 possessions put him in the 75th percentile.
Carter is not a dominant rim protector by any means. But he holds his own. Even Moe Wagner has greatly improved as a rim protector, getting to 62.6 percent field goal percentage allowed at the rim last year (after giving up 75.5 percent in 2023. And the Magic as a team hold their own as shot blockers and rim protectors.
But nobody is scared of attacking the paint with any of these players on the floor. They are not deterrents to the rim. That puts a lot of stress on the paint defense at times. There is no get-out-of-jail-free card.
The Magic's defensive scheme and size keep teams out of the paint. That might be the team's real strength defensively.
Opponents took just 27.9 field goal attempts per game within five feet of the basket last year, according to NBA.com. The Houston Rockets were the only team ahead of them in that category that failed to make the playoffs. They gave up 63.5 percent shooting inside five feet, ranking 12th in the league.
Additionally, they gave up just 9.2 field goal attempts per game from 5-9 feet (seventh-fewest in the league) and 44.0 percent shooting (21st in the league).
The Magic gave up just 47.5 points in the paint per game overall, eighth in the league.
Orlando can certainly protect the lane and limit shot opportunities close to the basket. But that does not quiet concerns about protecting the rim.
That paint defense became a relative struggle in the playoffs, as the Magic's scoring in the paint sharply declined and the Cavaliers averaged 48.3 points in the paint per game. Some of that paint defense did not stand up in the playoffs and that is what matters.
If Isaac is not in the game, who is going to block a shot like Evan Mobley did at the end of Game 5? In a playoff series when the margins are so narrow, these little things matter and this deficiency might appear.
It is clearly not the weakness some perceive it to be though. The Magic can hold their own inside the paint and at the rim even without a traditionally strong shot blocker. But it is still a big area for improvement for the Magic considering their overall defensive philosophy.
It is another area where all eyes will be on Carter this year. The Magic can still improve as a shot-blocking team. They have to. It remains unclear whether this is something holding the team back or something the Magic can continue to work around and fill in.