With the 2021 NBA Draft now complete, the mood around the Orlando Magic is one of real optimism. They managed to snag a player in Jalen Suggs who most felt was a top-four talent in this draft, and who was not supposed to be available when they were on the board with the fifth pick.
With Suggs, a point guard who looks certain to start on opening night, secured, the Magic then took more of a swing in selecting Franz Wagner with the eighth pick. A player who had attracted interest from other teams, however, only time will tell if adding Wagner was the right move to make.
Heading into the new season, the organization has, at long last, a component front office, tons of young players with potential and even some players they could use to get involved in trades. Considering the decade that just was for the franchise, this moment has been a long time coming.
The Orlando Magic find themselves in a good place after this year’s NBA Draft, but that doesn’t mean the future of every player on the team is secure.
This is the other side of the coin for some of the guys on the roster right now. For all the good vibes that are permeating through the Magic, there are only so many minutes and roles to go around. Suggs and Wagner are going to be given every chance to prove themselves, but let’s not forget that Jonathan Isaac may still yet be the cornerstone of this team.
Cole Anthony had himself an impressive rookie year, and clearly possesses the kind of personality to have a positive impact on the culture of the roster. R.J. Hampton is another who is clearly putting in the work this summer to ensure he has a big say on the future of the Magic. Here are three players who should be nervously looking over their shoulder, with their position under threat.
Orlando Magic players looking over their shoulder: 3. Dwayne Bacon
Dwayne Bacon just pips Michael Carter-Williams to the unenviable position of number three on this list. For Carter-Williams, who is in the final year of his current deal and in line to make $3.3 million this coming season, he may have done just enough while with the Magic for another team to take a chance on him.
He looked like he was on his way out of the league and couldn’t stick anywhere, until being reunited with former head coach Steve Clifford in Orlando. From there, Carter-Williams became a defensive specialist who could come off the bench and shut all manner of players down. His role was specific and unique, but it worked for the Magic in places and it could elsewhere in the future.
For Bacon, however, things are a lot murkier. He was signed last season to try and create some scoring and offensive punch for a team that at that time had been to back-to-back postseasons and needed more scoring from other guys on the roster. Bacon started 50 of the 72 games he played for the Magic and averaged a career-high 10.9 points per game.
All in all, though he underwhelmed, shooting 28.5 percent from just under three attempts per game from deep. Any hopes that he could use this opportunity (he averaged 25.7 minutes per game, compared to 17.6 the year before with the Charlotte Hornets) to really kick on were extinguished pretty quickly, and by year’s end, it was clear the roster was moving in a different direction.
Any hope Bacon had of proving himself took a hit when Suggs and Wagner were drafted. Both will be in direct competition with him for minutes (Wagner may be used in a number of ways), while the aforementioned Anthony and Hampton need playing time. Gary Harris, another who could have made this list, is surely ahead of him on the depth chart, and there is still Markelle Fultz to come back as well.
Most worryingly of all for Bacon, he could still yet be waived. Even if he is kept around, he is in the final year of his current deal and right now it is unclear where the next contract comes from. During his time with the Magic, he did little to show that another organization should even sign them to the end of their bench.
Orlando Magic players looking over their shoulder: 2. Gary Harris
There are similarities between the situations of Bacon and Harris, but also some key differences. Whereas Bacon may struggle to land anywhere else in the league in the Magic let him go, Harris is only 26 and has 17.5 points per game in the past while with the Denver Nuggets. His NBA career is certainly safe, it just may be that he is the odd man out here.
It is a tough turn of events for Harris, who would have seen being included in the deal that sent Aaron Gordon to the Nuggets last season as a chance to really establish himself on a rebuilding team. He started 19 of the 20 games for the team when he came over, averaging just over 10 points per game.
Harris was mostly fine during that period. Nothing to suggest he was going to take a leap of any kind, while also not taking a step back either. Had the Magic been forced to take Scottie Barnes (as most thought they would), or gone the route of Jonathan Kuminga, then Harris would have been looked at as somebody who could score and create in the backcourt. Even if that was off the bench.
Now he finds himself as the fifth man behind Anthony, Hampton, Suggs and the still injured Fultz. Entering the final year of his deal, he is also making over $20 million this coming season. That is a lot of money to leave floundering on the bench, but it feels like the organization has gone in another direction, and they are going to lean into it hard.
This makes Harris an ideal trade candidate as he is on an expiring deal. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t look like he is going to get the minutes or opportunity with the Magic before any deal takes place to show that he is worth big money next summer. Factor in that he could be traded to a team that only sees him as an expiring and will also not give him a chance, and the fresh new start that Harris looked like he was set for with the Magic looks to be over before it really started.
Orlando Magic players looking over their shoulder: 1. Markelle Fultz
Perhaps the correct answer here is Mohamed Bamba. After all, the introduction of Wendell Carter Jr. after having numerous opportunities to impress is a real concern for him. But because of all of the variables in play at this moment in time, Fultz tops the list. Not because of his talent or who he is as a player.
Remember, this is a guy who was the Magic’s second-best performer in a playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks not so long ago. Currently rehabbing a torn ACL, Fultz was the crafty type who didn’t rely on sheer speed to get around the court before the injury either. So it is hoped that the injury won’t have impacted his game too negatively.
Fultz also absolutely deserves a chance once he is healthy to run this team again and to show everybody what he can do. Before going down, he was orchestrating a roster that featured Gordon, Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier to what it felt like was going to be another postseason appearance. Who knows what he can do with these younger guys in place instead.
The real reason Fultz tops this list, however, is because timing, location and opportunity account for so much in the league. As good as Fultz can be, and he should be ready to go for training camp, a lot has changed since he last played for the Magic. Anthony and Hampton struck up a real bond with one another, and as mentioned Anthony’s personality has already seeped through the team.
Hampton and Suggs are familiar with one another as well, while Suggs certainly seems to possess a lot of the same personality traits as Anthony. Two guys with a chip on their shoulder, out to prove the doubters wrong. There is also a new head coach in Jamahl Mosley, and it remains to be seen what direction he wants to go with the guard rotation.
So whereas Fultz was a firm favorite of coach Clifford, he is going to have to prove himself all over again to a new coaching staff, with tougher competition than ever before in order to get playing time. As much as fans love him too, they are a fickle bunch. A great start from Suggs, backed by Hampton and Anthony, and Fultz could be out in the cold. He may have signed a three-year extension in 2020, but life moves quickly in the league. Fultz will be hoping to keep up.