As the All-Star break approached, Wendell Carter understood the stakes for him, his team and his future.
This was not the season he wanted. Like the team, Carter had big ambitions for the 2025 season. He hoped to use it to prove he could overcome his injury history.
The season has not gone according to plan for him by any means. Injuries killed the early part of his season—first knee tendinitis and then plantar fasciitis—and have haunted him through his worst season since he arrived in Orlando.
Carter put the pressure on himself as much as anyone to make the most of his time remaining and salvage something from the season. If the Magic were going to find success to end this year, it would start with Carter.
"It's probably going to be the most important 26 games of my career," Carter said before the Magic's final game before the All-Star break. "We definitely have the opportunity to be in the top-5, top-6 running heading into the postseason. Every game has to matter. Every game we have to show up. Every day we have to find a way to win. Each man to a man we have to find ways to lift this team up. We need it right now."
Since then, a lot of time has passed. The Magic struggled out of the break with a 1-6 homestand and have a 3-7 record since the All-Star break. Fighting for a sixth in the Eastern Conference feels like a reach.
But Carter has taken that message to himself to heart. Since the break, he has started to find himself again after struggling so much to start the season. It is at least a sign of the impact he can still make.
And even if Carter is not putting up gaudy stat lines, he has still proven himself valuable to the Magic.
He has rewarded a lot of faith the Magic have put in him as he regained his starting role. The Magic are at their best when Carter is involved and providing his energy to this team. And they are wiling to ride that to the end of the season.
"We talked a little about it just getting our group back whole," coach Jamahl Mosley said after the Magic's win over the Atlanta Hawks after the All-Star break. "When we started the year, that was the starting lineup. I think trying to find our way back to that moment and trying to find some energy off the bench with Goga [Bitadze] a little bit with defensive rebounds and playmaking and all those different things. You are trying to find different aspects of it. He's going to do whatever is asked of him because he's a true professional and he's going to do whatever is asked of him and he cares about this team."
Back in his groove
That decision has proven fruitful. The Orlando Magic are struggling as a team, but it is not due to Wendell Carter's lack of effort or his contributions to the starting lineup.
Since the break, Carter is averaging 9.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He is shooting 45.0 percent from the floor (although still struggling to shoot from distance at 26.1 percent). Included in those 10 games are three games with 10 rebounds or more.
The offense may not be coming quickly for Carter, but he has regained a lot of his defensive footing and a lot more of his physical presence around the basket.
It is certainly an improvement over the 8.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game he is averaging for the season. It is a small step up at least.
This is not saying all things are well for the Magic and for Carter.
The Magic have a -1.9 net rating for the season and are -1.9 points per 100 possessions with Carter on the floor this season (106.7 offensive rating/108.6 defensive rating). But since the All-Star break, the Magic have a -4.9 net rating with Carter on the floor (105.8 offensive rating/110.7 defensive rating). The team has a -4.1 net rating overall (109.4/113.5).
His game against the Houston Rockets was a sign of what Carter gives and takes.
He had 11 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds in that loss. But the story was how much the Rockets pummeled the Magic on the glass with Steven Adams accounting for 11 and Alperen Sengun with six. Even though the Magic scored more second-chance points in the game off their 13 offensive rebounds, the rebounding was back-breaking emotionally for the team.
It still highlights Carters weaknesses and his lack of explosion.
It also highlighted the Magic are a better team when Carter makes his presence felt on the glass and is a physical force in the paint, something he was not on the defensive glass throughout Monday's loss.
Orlando need the forceful Carter the team has seen for the most part since the break.
"Just being a force down there, finishing around the rim, rebounding and contesting shots around the rim," Paolo Banchero said after the Magic's win in Atlanta after the All-Star break. "He played tough. I think it's just a boost of energy for us having him back in the starting lineup. Stuff feels like it fits. Just happy about that."
Return to the lineup
There is no denying something has clicked with the Orlando Magic returning Wendell Carter to the starting lineup.
For the season, the lineup of Wendell Carter, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony has a +13.0 net rating (116.5 offensive rating/103.5 defensive rating). Since the break, that group is +19.4 points per 100 possessions (119.4/100.0).
In a season that has seen so much inconsistency, sticking with this lineup has provided some stability for the Magic, even if the team's depth has been gutted by the injuries.
It has given the Magic a chance to fight. And Carter with his defensive versatility is a big part of that potential.
"Consistency is something that I have been preaching before," Carter said before the Orlando Magic's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in February. "That's what humans are used to. We finally have gotten a consistent role for everyone. Everyone knows what they have to bring every night. with consistency comes confidence. Not everyone's back. We have strung together a couple of games all together. I think it was good to get that consistent feel for the game back."
That is the double-edged sword though.
Carter has provided stability and has improved his play since the break. The question is whether it is good enough. The Magic's overall record would suggest it is not. And that is something the team will have to consider in the offseason too.
Carter did not have the injury-free season he hoped for. The lingering effects of those injuries have likely dulled his stats. He is only starting to recover them and prove his impact nightly.
Orlando values his versatility. Carter can get on the perimeter and hold his own switching onto guard better than any other big on the roster. There is still value there.
Carter still has to show it more consistently. That is what the rest of his season will entail and why it is the most important run of his career.