The Magic finished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference each of the past two years, as their 22-60 record last year was second only to Houston for the league cellar. There is hope that a young core has them trending upwards, forefronted by the top overall pick in June’s draft, Duke power forward Paolo Banchero.
Banchero, 19, however might be one of the only healthy stars in the Orlando locker room by the time the Magic tip off Monday night in Memphis.
Everyone who is anyone in Orlando’s starting lineup, outside of Banchero, comes into the preseason schedule with some form of injury. Guard Gary Harris tore his meniscus in August. Harris, 28, came over in the trade that sent Aaron Gordon to Denver last season. Gordon was a cornerstone in Orlando, garnering much attention after his showings in recent Slam Dunk Contests during NBA All Star Weekend. The Magic right now wish they still had Gordon, as it would be a familiar and marketable face to draw some level of attendance.
Second year guard Jalen Suggs is rehabbing an ankle injury. The fifth-overall pick in the 2021 Draft from Gonzaga, averaged 11.8 points in 48 games last year. Suggs if you might recall was the star of the Gonzaga team that advanced to the National Championship game in 2021 while undefeated, hitting a 30-foot bank shot buzzer beater to knock off UCLA in the National Semifinal.
Banchero played all 39 of Duke’s games last season, then declared for the draft as a freshman after being named second-team All American. The Magic allowed their hopeful star to play just one game in Summer League before shutting him down completely. Banchero, 19, while not injured did have an eventful offseason as well, having an aiding DWI charge later dropped.
However, the biggest absence from training camp for Orlando is 2017 #1 overall pick Markelle Fultz. The oft-injured guard is out indefinitely with a fractured toe, suffered during workouts a few weeks ago. The injury will not require surgery, but will sideline Fultz until at least the start of the regular season in mid-October. Fultz tore an ACL in January of 2021, missing the rest of that season and all of last season. Five injury-plagued seasons in Philadelphia to start his career resulted in the Sixers trading Fultz to the Magic at the 2019 trade deadline. Orlando somehow decided offering a 3-year, $50 million contract extension would be good for business.
Zion Williamson and Ben Simmons might think that Fultz is a liability waiting to happen. All three are in the conversation for who will be the biggest #1 overall bust within the next 2-3 years.
Orlando has seen 10 years since trading Dwight Howard away. Since then, the Magic have only made the playoffs twice, somehow winning the Southeast Division in 2019 with a 42-40 record. The remaining eight years have seen seven finish last in the division, losing at least 50 games each in six of them. The remaining year saw them finish fourth, while still eclipsing 50 losses.
The Magic have not been out of the first round of the playoffs since 2010, when Howard guided them to the Eastern Conference Finals. Howard won his second of three consecutive NBA Defensive Player Of the Year awards that season.
Forward Mo Bamba is coming off a career year, putting up 10.6 points per game in 71 games last year, 69 of those he started in. Orlando is going to need to lean on his defensive presence until the scoring can get healthy.
How the Magic are so snake-bitten by injuries before the regular season even begins can add to the litany of issues they face in another rebuild.
-JC24