If you are a fan of the Orlando Magic, then for the first time in a long time. you have to be content with where they are at right now. First-overall pick Paolo Banchero had a stellar couple of Summer League games before being shut down before he could match up with the second pick, Chet Holmgren. You know, the guy that many thought the Magic would end up drafting.
With Banchero looking like the right call early on, Franz Wagner looking like a steal from the draft last year, and a whole host of young and improving talent, the Magic suddenly look like one of the top League Pass teams in the NBA to watch next year. They are taking strides at a pace that seems comfortable and right for this group.
NBA Trades: But with news breaking that Donovan Mitchell may leave the Utah Jazz, is the time right for the Orlando Magic to accelerate their rebuild?
The front office of the Magic has typically played it safe since taking control of the organization. Blowing up their core of Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, and Evan Fournier when they did was overdue, but it still took stones to do that. Vucevic was a two-time All-Star, while Gordon had matured into an excellent defensive player.
So, taking swings like trading for Mitchell has not been the done thing in Orlando for a while now. However, before we could talk about the Magic usually struggling to get stars down to Florida, or even that their young core isn’t quite ready to take the leap towards a consistent playoff group yet, let’s look at the argument for trading for Mitchell from a different perspective. Namely, how other franchises are racing away from the bottom of the pack.
This year, after the Magic selected first in the draft, the next three teams to pick were the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, and Detroit Pistons. If you look at their rosters, the Thunder has possibly the best collection of young talent in the league, the Pistons suddenly have a tandem of Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, while the Rockets now have Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., and Kevin Porter Jr.
All of which is to say, the Magic have their own promising group in Banchero, Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony, Wendell Carter Jr., and R.J. Hampton. But only a homer would think that they are guaranteed to be the best young group over the next five years. The teams around the Magic are getting better, and that is a problem if they want to start to ascend.
While they’re not on the clock to be great yet, they do have one of the more enticing packages if they were to trade for Mitchell. They are in possession of all of their first-round picks and have a number of other second-rounders from various trades (not that they hold much value). The Magic could also send young guys like Anthony and Hampton to the Jazz as well.
If that isn’t going to get the deal done, Terrence Ross is a solid veteran who could be flipped for more assets, and at this point, Suggs shouldn’t be off the table either. Jonathan Isaac and Bol Bol are there for anybody to take a look at at this point, and when you bundle all of this together, it is a healthy proposal.
The haul the Jazz got for Rudy Gobert has skewed the market, but if you look at other teams in the league, how many would be willing to part with so much (multiple first-round picks, pick swaps, Anthony, Hampton, and Ross) at this stage in their development? The New York Knicks have long been admirers of Mitchell, but they just got their man in Jalen Brunson.
Pairing the two of those together, alongside Julius Randle, would make them a tough opponent each night. But could you call them true contenders? The Knick may instead prefer to sit on what they have for the moment and see how Brunson gels with their own young players.
Mitchell is a serious offensive weapon and would generate real excitement next to Banchero in Orlando. They wouldn’t be quite on the level of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray over on the Atlanta Hawks, but how much worse off would they be? The name of the game in 2022 is to get stars to pair with depth collected through the draft, and the Magic have done that second part really well.
It is not so long ago that we were talking about Mitchell as a genuine superstar in the making after some fabulous playoff performances, most notably against the Denver Nuggets. The time to flip the switch for the Magic may not be now, but it is coming.
Guys like Mitchell, at only 25, do not come along often. The front office should at least pick up the phone and have a conversation with the Jazz.