NBA Standings Projections: Magic Making Playoffs?

ESPN projects that the Orlando Magic will make the Play-In Tournament this season.

ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic is eyeing an improvement from its 34-48 record last season, which was not enough to make the postseason.

ESPN's panel of experts predicted the win totals of all 15 Eastern Conferenced teams for the 2023-24 NBA season. The experts predicted a 38-44 record for Orlando, a four-win improvement which would put them squarely in the last spot for the play-in tournament.

In this projection, the 10-seed Magic would play the nine-seed Pacers in the play-in. The winner of that game would play the loser of the 7/8 matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets for a chance at the last playoff spot.

An improvement of four wins would be good for Orlando, but the talk of the town is that expectations might be higher than that. With young phenoms Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner expected to take the next step towards stardom, the Magic could be a sneaky good team.

Orlando is bringing in two lottery picks in Anthony Black and Jett Howard to bolster their roster as well as free agent veteran Joe Ingles. 

Last season, Banchero’s stellar rookie campaign helped the Magic improve by 12 wins from the year before on his way to winning Rookie of the Year. If Orlando makes a similar improvement, they could be able to avoid the play-in tournament all together.

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