This isn't to say the Orlando Magic are about to exit and make an enormous splash in the course of the offseason and maybe be a touchdown spot for doubtlessly sad Dallas Mavericks famous person Luka Doncic, however right here’s the gorgeous factor:
At the very least we are able to have that dialog now.
At the very least the Magic — with their very own younger stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, tons of draft capital and a revered coach in Jamahl Mosley whom Doncic completely loves — are a participant in a possible blockbuster commerce or a doable vacation spot spot for bigtime free brokers.
“We’ve all talked concerning the the inner enchancment that we are able to make, however clearly a few of your enhancements can come externally and that’s via the free agent market or via trades,” Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman informed me Tuesday. “However it takes two to tango so all we are able to do is put together and discover out what’s on the market. I used to be talking with an agent the opposite day and he mentioned, ‘You guys are one of many buzziest groups within the league.’ That’s a time period I had by no means heard earlier than, however I believe it’s factor as a result of it means we’re placing ourselves ready in order that we turn out to be a vacation spot the place guys wish to be right here.”
Who would have ever thought that a workforce ending with the sixth-worst report within the league and 14 video games under .500 could be so “buzzy” that a cynical previous sportswriter like me would think about its just-completed season to be resoundingly profitable? Possibly it’s as a result of the Magic confirmed huge enchancment all through the season and gained 12 extra video games than final 12 months, however extra seemingly it’s as a result of I’ve coverered all of the iterations of the a number of rebuilds, and for the primary time in a dozen years I can see a transparent pathway out of the abyss.
For the primary time in seemingly endlessly, Magic followers have actual hope, and as Andy Dufresne mentioned within the basic film The Shawshank Redemption: “Hope is an effective factor, possibly the perfect of issues, and no good factor ever dies.”
The Magic’s present administration workforce of Weltman and GM John Hammond blew up the roster 2 1/2 years in the past, controversially traded the workforce’s solely All-Star (Nikola Vucevic) and began their first Magic rebuild — and it really appears to be working. They gained the Vucevic commerce in a landslide by getting a building-block younger heart in Wendell Carter Jr. and two first-round draft picks — one in all which they became Wagner and the opposite securely of their pocket heading into this 12 months’s draft.
Then, after all, they gained the lottery final 12 months and nailed the choose by selecting Duke’s Banchero, who's the overwhelming favourite to be the NBA’s Rookie of the 12 months. It’s definitely not a stretch to assume Banchero will flip right into a future famous person and Wagner a future All-Star.
And it’s not simply me who’s pumped concerning the Magic’s future; former Magic coach and esteemed NBA analyst Stan Van Gundy informed me a few weeks in the past: “I believe the 2 greatest younger rosters within the league are Oklahoma Metropolis and the Magic. Paola Banchero and Franz Wagner give them two actually good younger gamers to construct round … Jamahl Mosley is excellent as a coach. … I believe the administration workforce of Jeff Weltman and John Hammond have constructed roster and Magic followers have some actual hope for the long run.”
Writes ESPN.com NBA analyst Bobby Marks: “No Japanese Convention lottery workforce is ready up higher for the long run than Orlando. … The NBA’s second-youngest roster — led by seemingly Rookie of the 12 months Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr. — has a sustainable basis in place. Banchero averaged 20.0 factors this season — essentially the most by a rookie since Luke Doncic in 2018. He and Wagner are the third pair of teammates 21 or youthful [in NBA history] to common 18 factors in a season.”
The Magic even have cap house, roster flexibility (14 gamers beneath contract, however solely seven on assured offers) and doubtlessly two lottery picks. In different phrases, they've the property to both make a blockbuster deal or dive into the free agent market.
The $200 million query: Is now the best time to pursue a famous person or is it nonetheless too early for such a younger workforce? Regardless of what he says publicly, Doncic, who tied for the NBA scoring title final season and completed second this season, appears to be sad in Dallas after the Mavericks introduced within the enigmatic Kyrie Irving on the commerce deadline in a futile try to make a championship run. As a substitute, the Mavs became the most important flop of the season and didn't make the playoffs. To make issues worse, Mavericks administration apparently overruled Doncic by sitting a number of key gamers within the final two video games of the season even whereas the workforce nonetheless had an opportunity of creating the play-in match.
Doncic has a wonderful relationship with Mosley, a former assistant with the Mavericks who helped develop and mentor Doncic when he got here into the league. So once we ask if now's the best time for the Magic to make a serious transfer, Weltman — not talking particularly about Doncic — says that it’s the famous person gamers, not the groups themselves, that determine when the timing is true in at the moment’s NBA.
“The character of free company is within the course of of adjusting and the bottom is shifting beneath our ft,” Weltman says. “Gamers are placing themselves into that commerce/free-agent market. … Alternatives current themselves; [teams] don’t create them oftentimes. … We've got to be open to each chance to enhance our workforce even when [we have to make a major move] a little bit early.”
When requested if the Magic could be in place to make a transfer if a famous person turned obtainable this offseason, Weltman replied, “I believe it will depend on what the profile of the participant is and what the commerce would seem like. I believe that is the primary time that we are able to even have that dialog internally.”
The Magic nonetheless have a 9% likelihood of touchdown the consensus No. 1 choose — 7-foot-5 French phenom Victor Wembanyama — within the Could 16 draft lottery, the place Mosley will characterize the workforce once more this season.
Mosley introduced dwelling the highest choose final season, which became Banchero. Wouldn’t or not it's one thing if he additionally landed Wembanyama and/or Doncic?
It most likely gained’t occur, however, man oh man, isn’t it enjoyable to not less than be speaking concerning the chance?
E mail me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and hearken to my Open Mike radio present each weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and HD 101.1-2
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