Projecting the Orlando Magic's 2025-26 starting lineup
Point Guard: Jalen Suggs
The most controversial decision the Orlando Magic made this offseason was to go into the season with Jalen Suggs as the nominal point guard.
It was easy to see in the playoffs how much the Magic needed a playmaker to try to ease the pressure off Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner on the ball and set them up for easier shots. Banchero even spoke in the offseason about the need to get a tablesetter, although he certainly seemed to enjoy having the ball in his hands a lot.
The Magic stuck with Suggs, who averaged just 2.7 assists per game last year and was an infrequent pick-and-roll player with just 1.9 possessions per game at 0.80 points per possession. And then they added a non-ball-handling guard in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
It makes sense then that the Magic's primary target in free agency might have been Malik Monk who could have taken on some of the playmaking burdens after averaging 5.1 assists per game and 4.7 pick-and-roll possessions per game according to NBA.com's tracking stats at 0.91 points per possession last year.
Monk never hit the market, agreeing to a new deal with the Kings. The team pivoted and trusted in Suggs' growth.
Suggs averaged 4.4 assists per game in his rookie year. And increasing his usage and playmaking responsibility might see an uptick in that.
Orlando already knows what it will get from Suggs on defense. The team should have no reservations about him being an all-defensive team player for much of the next three or four years.
That alone will likely see him sign a four-year deal that starts at around $28 million (the hope is that this will get done before the Oct. 21 deadline).
The question the Magic have to figure out and will perhaps be the central storyline of the 2025 season is whether Suggs can manage the team as its de facto point guard even if that is not exactly his role. If he struggles to do this, then the rumors that persisted throughout the summer will arise again, even if they are exceedingly expensive and cost one of their starters.
Those rumors involving players like Anfernee Simons or Trae Young have not gone away. Everyone still anticipates the Magic seeking a point guard. Whether they are doing that at the trade deadline—Malcolm Brogdon on the Washington Wizards could again be a hot target in February—or next summer depends on how much Suggs improves.
It might also be something that delays Suggs' necessary extension to the offseason.