Wendell Carter has heard the criticisms after a frustrating 2025 season.
It is not that he surfs the Internet or listens to fans. Carter is as critical of his own game as anybody else.
He admitted during exit interviews in May that he can sometimes get in his own head. He wants to play well, and the 2025 season, while accomplishing a key goal of being healthy (for the most part) and playing a career high in games, was not up to his standard.
He felt the weight of things if he missed his first few shots. It was easy for him to allow that to compound. He felt the pressure he put on himself.
Carter became unreliable on offense. The Magic's stretch-5 center could not hit threes and his shotcomings around the basket were abundant too.
For a Magic team that needed to find relief anywhere it could offensively, Carter had a disappointing season. He was something of a letdown.
With the Magic spending their offseason reforming their backcourt, they left the center position largely untouched -- re-signing Moe Wagner to maintain the trio of bigs the Magic rely on. It puts a lot of pressure back on Carter to bounce back.
But he returns to a very different team. He returns to a team with four clear offensive options in the starting lineup. It should allow Carter to focus his role on his defense and shooting. Like so many other players, more space will benefit him, and a more simplified role will help him have a great season.
Expectations bring pressure. And the pressure is on Carter to prove he can be the center that helps the Magic compete for a championship. It is a source of some skepticism right now.
Carter could be in a spot now to step up in a big way. The changes to the lineup should emphasize his strengths and hide his weaknesses better.
Carter's up and down 2025 season
No doubt, Wendell Carter did not put in the kind of season he was looking for.
On one hand, Carter said his goal was to be healthy. Despite an early-season knee injury, Carter played a career-high 68 games.
But on the other hand, many of his other numbers suffered.
The lingering effects of that knee injury. The slow ramp-up in his offseason while recovering from left-hand surgery slowed him through much of the season despite his determination to play.
His performance suffered.
Carter finished the season averaging a career-low 9.1 points per game and shot a career-low 46.0 percent from the floor. He added 7.2 rebounds per game. And as his game drifted more to the perimeter, Carter shot only 23.4 percent from three.
"It could have been better," Carter said during exit interviews. "As a competitor, you always feel like you can be better. I battled through some injuries that a lot of people don't even know about. I wanted to be there for this team and my teammates and this organization. There is definitely room for improvement."
Quite simply, Carter did not produce the stats the Magic needed. In a season where there was a lot of shooting downturn, Carter's shooting problems still stood out. He struggled to find his place.
It was not all bad for Carter, though. He still was a stalwart on defense. He had a career-best 0.9 defensive box plus-minus and the Magic had a 107.8 defensive rating with Carter on the floor, 1.3 points per 100 possessions better than the team's sterling average.
Things were better in the Playoffs.
Wendell Carter was the only player outside of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to average more than 10 points per game -- he averaged 10.2 per game. He was dominant on the interior with 10.2 rebounds per game too and shot 52.5 percent, even as he struggled from three.
The Magic need him to continue improving, but the playoffs were a positive sign.
Carter enters a role that focuses on his strengths
The Playoffs represented what Carter can still give the team: Versatile and focused defense, dominance on the glass and enough offense to give the team a boost. He never should have been the third scorer on the team, but with all the attention Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner were getting, Wendell Carter found a way to make an impact.
That seems like it will be a good preview for the kind of role he could play for the Magic this season.
Orlando will shift its offensive roles this season. And that has inevitably pushed Carter down the pecking order within the offense.
In a starting lineup that features two All-Star-level players, a borderline All-Star in Desmond Bane and another high scorer in Jalen Suggs, Wendell Carter's role offensively will shift. His usage rate last year dropped to a career-low 16.0 percent. And it may drop even lower.
That will mean Carter must make his shots more effectively when he gets them. Spreading the floor as a shooter becomes more important, or he will need to be more effective around the basket. He just needs to be a threat. But Carter will not have the ball as often.
A simpler offensive role should allow Carter to focus on his strengths and allow the Magic to tailor his role to his strengths.
More importantly, that focus should unleash Carter as the defensive beast he can be.
He is a linchpin of the Magic's defensive success with his versatility and ability to defend the paint and guard on the perimeter. If relieving some offensive responsibility makes him looser and allows him to put more energy on the glass and as a paint presence and defender, it should make the Magic a better team.
There are a lot of questions the Magic still must answer before this season. With a greater focus on the team's offense, the Magic should be able to spread responsibilities and keep better spacing for their top players. That should mean more opportunities for Carter.
It should mean Carter can focus on his role and star in what the Magic are asking him to do.
Orlando needs a stronger scoring and shooting season from Carter to meet their goals. And this is a big season for Carter to establish himself and showcase his strengths.