If the NBA does not return this season, then Orlando Magic fans should prepare for a summer in which the organization continues on the same path.
Basketball fans are in a strange place right now, because while they should be enjoying the NBA Playoffs, they are left to wonder if any meaningful basketball will come back at all this season. This leaves fans and front offices alike around the NBA in general and the Orlando Magic in particular unsure if action will return, or if we’ve hit the offseason a lot earlier than planned.
In the case of the Magic, whether those who support the team want to believe it or not, this coming summer is not one in which they are going to see drastic changes or a shift in where the franchise is.
They chose a path two years ago to come back to relevance, and while it is a slow process, there is no question it is working too.
Simply getting back to the postseason and getting bounced in the first round (as would have happened again this year) is frustrating to accept as progress when you’re a fan, but this is where the Magic are at. Any improvements to ensure they are even better next season are going to have to come from within as well, and there are a number of reasons for that.
There are no big trades coming, and the roster isn’t going to look drastically different once the next regular season returns. There are two key reasons for this, with the being center Nikola Vucevic. The Montenegrin signed a four-year, $100 million extension to stay in Orlando last summer, after coming off what was an All-Star year for him.
While Vucevic is an excellent player who is now in his prime, it is still puzzling to think who exactly the Magic were working against to try and secure Vucevic’s signature to return. That’s a lot of money for a position that is less important than it has ever been, even if Vucevic is a modern big man who is even more influential working outside of the paint with his passing and shooting.
But the simple reality is that no team is going to want to trade for him, because of the $75 million he is still owed after this season for the next three years. That’s a lot of money for somebody who, if he is your best player, is not winning you a championship. Vucevic works in Orlando as the best player on a playoff team, but he is too well paid for that.
Orlando Magic
So the Magic won’t be in a position to really shake up their roster, both because of an inability to move Vucevic because of lack of interest around the league because of his contract, and also because of how much of their salary cap he takes up. Thankfully the second reason there won’t be big roster changes is a much more positive one.
In Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz, the Magic already have two young players who they should be building around for the future. Isaac, in particular, is the kind of young defensive anchor that most teams in the league would love to have. Especially on the rookie deal that he is currently playing on.
Not as many organizations would be interested in Fultz, but there’s no question his first full season in Orlando was a success. He got back onto the court right away, was a starter after only a handful of games and had some really nice moments. There were games when he was less influential too, but Fultz is only 21 and this was his first full season without injury.
So even though the Magic won’t make any splashy trades, they are in a good place with those two. Mohamed Bamba as well hasn’t been amazing since being drafted two years ago, but there’s enough to like about his game as a complimentary player to Isaac and Fultz to think that he too has a future with the Magic in some capacity.
Really then the only places that we may see change are with Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier. Gordon is a valuable trade asset, but he’s been linked with moves elsewhere for so long that you wonder if the front office will ever do a deal. Some nights it makes sense to explore these options, then Gordon will go on a hot run and keeping him to add to what they have seems like a no-brainer.
Fournier has a player option for $17.5 million for next season, and you imagine he will pick it up. Even then, however, he could be used in a trade as an expiring contract for a fringe contender looking to make a final push up the standings. Fournier had possibly his best season with the Magic this year, and he would have some value around the league.
Should he stay put though, then you have to think the Magic might pay him to keep him around. With Isaac’s extension on the horizon as well, that really would lock the franchise into this group for the next few years (at least until Vucevic’s current deal runs out). A concerning thought, given how far this core has looked like taking them so far.
Which is why growth from within, and from Isaac and Fultz in particular, is so key here. The front office has placed a lot of belief that they can help them Magic take the next step forward because a look around the roster only confirms that big moves to improve the roster are not on the horizon, and Magic fans should prepare for this reality.