Final 2024-25
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Record: 41-41 (sixth in the East, lost to the Celtics in the first round)
Off-season moves
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Additions: Desmond Bane, Tyus Jones, Jase Richardson, Noah Penda, Orlando Robinson, Jamal Cain
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Subtractions: Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cory Joseph, Gary Harris, Caleb Houstan
Paolo Banchero played only 46 games last season. (Stefan Milic/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
The big question: Can the Magic build a championship-caliber offense?
I’ve written about this several times over the years, and you’ve probably heard it on one or two podcasts or NBA broadcasts: Orlando hasn’t finished in the top half of the league in offensive efficiency since Dwight Howard left the Magic to join the Lakers.
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That happened in 2012.
Kevin Durant has won four Olympic gold medals since the Magic last finished better than 15th in points scored per possession. If I’m counting right, 50 Marvel movies have come and gone from theaters since the last time an Orlando team was mediocre at putting the ball in the basket. There are residents of central Florida teenagers who has I’ve never seen an average NBA offense. up close and personal…unless the visiting team brings one to town.
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If you’re thinking, “It seems like it would be pretty hard to win if you’ve had a bad offense for almost 15 years,” well, that’s because it is: the Magic have made the playoffs just four times in the last 13 seasons, and none of those four playoff runs advanced beyond the first round.
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After back-to-back postseason appearances in which they produced points at a rate that would have finished last in the NBA during the regular season, and last year fielding what was, according to the great John Schuhmann, “the worst offensive team… to make the playoffs in the 29 seasons for which we have play-by-play data,” president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and Co. decided it was time to throw caution to the wind. The goal was ambitious: find the perfect complementary piece to build an offense capable of complementing the elite defense that head coach Jamahl Mosley has built in Orlando. The price was even higher: four unprotected first-round picks.
Enter Desmond Bane, a career 41% 3-point shooter who ranks 22nd in the NBA in total 3-pointers over the past four seasons, to provide a desperately needed decongestant for an offense that finished last in team 3-pointers made per game and 3-point accuracy, and 27th in half-court scoring efficiency. Bane has grown significantly over the years as a pick-and-roll ball handler, complementary playmaker and also a north-south driver, making him a seemingly perfect complement alongside max-salary cornerstones Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
Bane’s shooting should help widen driving lanes for big wing drives to the basket. His off-ball movement should help inject some dynamism into a Magic offense that ranked in the middle of the pack in average distance traveled per game on offense last season, and 25th in average speed traveled, according to Second Spectrum. His ability to make something happen with the ball in his hands should reduce his overall shot-creating load, and the chances of him partnering with them on screen actions, even as a screen creator himself on reverse actions, should open up more opportunities for Orlando to put defenses on the spot.
Add in fellow former Grizzly Tyus Jones, who has shot 39.8% from the 3-point line over the past four seasons, and who perpetually ranks at or near the top of the assist-to-turnover ratio leaderboard, which should help Orlando’s league-bottom-third turnover rate, and first-round pick Jase Richardson, who shot 41.2% from the college 3-point line in his only year at Michigan State (and who has shown some exciting flashes in the preseason), and Orlando might have enough firepower to go toe-to-toe with the expected East beasts like the Cavaliers and Knicks. As long as, of course, the Magic can keep their big guns on the court.
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Only three playoff teams (Oklahoma City, Memphis and the Lakers) lost more games to injury last season than the Magic, according to Spotrac. Banchero and Wagner were sidelined with oblique muscle tears, while defensive team member/attitudinal talisman Jalen Suggs was limited to just 35 games with a left knee injury that required season-ending surgery; In total, Orlando’s three best players shared the court for just 97 minutes in just six games last season. The hope is that better health for the franchise’s three pillars (and continued availability for Bane, who played in 69 games last season after missing significant time in each of the previous two seasons in Memphis) will allow the Magic to have the same type of year-over-year surge that Cleveland enjoyed last season.
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The fear is that with Suggs yet to return to full-contact 5-on-5 work more than seven months after surgery, and potentially still “weeks” away from returning to the fold, we may not get to see the full team that Orlando’s top brass had put together for a while. (Key reserve Moe Wagner is still a long way from returning after tearing the ACL in his left knee last December, doesn’t help either.) That, in turn, could prevent the Magic from developing the kind of chemistry and cohesion critical to creating a potent offense, and impede their expected progress in the East standings.
However, if Banchero, Franz and Bane can quickly find some synergy, and if Suggs and Moe can return and provide instant production and their usual pugilistic play, the Magic could have the right recipe to become a team that is more than the sum of its parts.
“I think we should be a deep team in the playoffs,” Banchero recently told Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “Hopefully, that means finals. But if it’s anything shorter than that, then the Eastern Conference finals. I want to play well into the playoffs.”
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Add to that increased growth from young connective tissue players like Anthony Black and Tristan da Silva, and efficient interior contributions from big men Wendell Carter Jr. and Goga Bitadze, and Orlando could really have a chance to hurt defenses at a league-average level. Combine that with the type of defense that has been Orlando’s calling card under Mosley, and the Magic could be the type of contender fans have been waiting for for a long time. very long time to see.
The best of cases
All of the aforementioned health issues stand in the way of Orlando, giving Mosley the time, reps, and raw materials with which to build a two-track monster; The Magic finish in the top five in defensive efficiency and 10 at the other end, exorcising all the demons of terrible past offenses. Banchero, Wagner and Bane are part of the All-Star team; Paolo (who makes a jump in his scoring efficiency and inside-out passing) and Franz (who finally fixes that jump shot problem) are All-NBA; Mosley wins Coach of the Year award. Orlando surpasses 55 wins, takes the number 1 spot in the East and achieves a miraculous season to the NBA Finals, while Kevin Pelton’s Simulation No. 620 becomes a happy reality.
If everything falls apart
Suggs’ knee is never right and, as a result, neither are the Magic. Banchero, Bane, and Wagner all put up good numbers, but without Suggs’ combination of elite point-of-attack defense, secondary playmaking, and drop-point shooting, Mosley can’t find the right combinations to be able to consistently field powerful two-way lineups without exploitable deficiencies on one end or the other. The offense improves a bit, but the defense declines further, and Orlando once again finds itself hovering around .500, unable to break through in a conference that once seemed ripe for the taking, and wondering if it went all-in with a hand that ultimately might not be good enough to drag the boat.
Calendar 2025-26
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season opening: October 22 against Miami
Orlando has won 52 or more games just four times in franchise history, all led by a transformational Hall of Fame center. There’s no Shaq or Dwight here… but if the injury bug doesn’t bite, there’s enough talent here to get close to a win total of around 50.
More season previews
This: Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn Nets • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago Bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit Pistons • Indiana Pacers • Miami Heat • Milwaukee Bucks • New York Knicks • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington Wizards
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West: Dallas Mavericks • Denver Nuggets • Golden State Warriors • Houston Rockets • LA Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizzlies • Minnesota Timberwolves • New Orleans Pelicans • Oklahoma City Thunder • Phoenix Suns • Portland Trail Blazers • Sacramento Kings • San Antonio Spurs • Utah jazz