NBA Trade Deadline Primer: An In-Depth Look at the Magic's Situation
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The NBA trade deadline, a crucial time of year for buyers and sellers, is less than a week away.
On one end of the transactions are teams that feel they're a move or two away from contending for the league title. Other teams are foreclosing on the present and are willing to part with current assets in return for more flexibility and possibilities.
In the middle are the Orlando Magic, whose high hopes for this season have been tempered by a succession of injuries to top-end as well as rotational players. They are 24-25, entrenched in an Eastern Conference pack vying for a guaranteed playoff position.
Depending on the moves the Magic do or don't make, as well as the decisions of their competitors, the complexion of the season's final sprint could drastically change.
Is there a move that safeguards Orlando's focus for the future while strengthening its current core? If yes, then which players make sense for the Magic?
The calculus of risk and reward
Last season, the Magic were one of three NBA teams — with Cleveland and Chicago — to stand pat at the trade deadline. Orlando was 27-24, eighth in the Eastern Conference, but was well clear of the Bulls in ninth place.
The Magic earned the fifth seed by winning 47 games — a 13-game improvement from the previous season.
The breakthrough year exceeded expectations for the Magic, whose best players were young 20-somethings.
But those expectations are different this season. The Magic aren't the same out-of-nowhere darlings who can surprise anyone with a street fight. Throughout the offseason and training camp, the bar for 2024-25 was higher.
Injuries have dampened those prospects. Before the Magic played the Trail Blazers Thursday night, Orlando's total games lost to injury or illness was 154 — three fewer than all of last season. But with 34 games remaining, the Magic are near full health as the season's stretch drive arrives.
A trade is a calculus of risk and reward. There's an argument to be made for both.
Why now could be the time for Orlando to make a deal
Before the season, Jeff Weltman, the Magic's president of basketball operations, detailed the tight line that NBA front offices must walk.
"They're coming at us like they're coming at everybody else," Weltman said. "This CBA (collective bargaining agreement) is going to put financial constraints on every single team, and we're no different. So that will be one of our challenges going forward is to keep the train on the same tracks. Every team in the league is looking to get better. We're no different. If the right opportunities present themselves for us to make a leap, we'll take it."
According to Spotrac, the Magic's payroll is the fourth-lowest in the NBA. From a financial standpoint, there are virtually zero roster-building constraints that hamper Orlando's ability to make a move. But that changes in the near future.
Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs' five-year contract extensions worth $374.5 million take effect in the 2025-26 season. Next season, their share of the Magic's salary cap hit jumps from 11.5 to 47.6 percent.
Paolo Banchero becomes extension-eligible after this season. Assuming the 2024 All-Star and former Rookie of the Year signs a five-year max extension, the 2022 No. 1 overall pick's new deal would begin in the 2026-27 season.
All of which means mean that the Magic will have committed about $600 million in contracts to their top three players. The Magic's spending could place them in first- or second-apron salary limits (Spotrac's side-page tabs list the roster restrictions facing teams that exceed those limits).
If Orlando is to keep the main core of its roster intact, trading for an established player is easier now while the Magic have the financial flexibility.
The Magic need perimeter scoring. They're on track to be the worst three-point shooting team in more than a decade and their offensive rating has been stuck in the NBA's bottom third since 2011-12. Complementing Banchero, Wagner and Suggs now could further open Orlando's window of contention.
Why Orlando might stand pat again
The Magic haven't faced the luxury tax since 2010-11. If they spend at such a level in the coming seasons, it would be a byproduct of awarding homegrown talent that makes up the majority of their roster. Only two players have been acquired by trade — Wendell Carter Jr. and Gary Harris in 2021 — and the rest were either drafted or picked up in free agency.
Before this season, the Magic gave new deals to Wagner, Suggs, Jonathan Isaac, Goga Bitadze and Moe Wagner. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was the splash acquisition through free agency.
Weltman and the Orlando front office value continuity, and the team's approach to roster construction is different because their personnel are different.
"We're not building this thing quite conventionally," Weltman said before this season. "We're playing through a couple 6-10 guys (Banchero and Wagner) who are very skilled, very smart. And we believe that as their skills and awareness in this league grow, that's only going to be able to leverage a unique way to play that we're starting our journey on."
Banchero (34 games, torn right oblique) and Wagner (20 games, torn right oblique) each have missed time, forcing Orlando to tread water rather than making strides toward the top of the conference.
Getting Banchero and Wagner back in the mix likely exceeds any player that Orlando would get back in a trade. And in a roller-coaster year, disrupting team chemistry for what might be an incremental improvement to the roster is a risk.
All of this is to say that the Magic are wild cards who can justifiably go in either direction at the deadline.
What assets do the Magic have to trade?
Wendell Carter Jr. is ineligible to be traded at the deadline after signing his contract extension (three years, $58 million) this past October. The first time he can be moved is in the offseason.
Jonathan Isaac ($25 million) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($22.8 million) are the Magic's highest-paid players this season. Isaac's annual salary drops to $15 million and then $14.5 million in the next two years.
The salaries this year for the rest of the roster fall between $2 million and roughly $13 million.
The Magic own:
- their first-round draft choice in each of the next seven years,
- a 2025 first-round pick from Denver that's top-5 protected,
- a 2026 first-round selection that's the second most-favorable in a three-team swap with Washington and Phoenix, and
- eight second-round picks in the next four years and 12 overall.
Who could Orlando target in a trade?
Banchero, Wagner, and Suggs' trajectories are aligned and, barring any surprises, they become more expensive in the next two seasons.
Moves that consider the Magic's future spending and development of their core make the most sense.
A few players could fit.
Disclaimer: This list purely assesses the fit and potential reasons for why the Magic may or may not trade for each player. Any reported interest is credited.
Cam Johnson
2024-25 stats (as of Jan. 30): 19.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 49.1 FG%, 41.9 3PT% (7.6 attempts), 21.9 usage rate
Contract: $22.5 million salary (two years and $43 million left)
Johnson, 28, is a 6-foot-8 swingman having a career year and attracting potential suitors as the deadline approaches. Brooklyn's focus is shifted to future seasons, meaning Johnson is the top available asset in the Nets' portfolio. Reports indicate that Brooklyn has a high price in mind for Johnson.
Johnson would be an unrestricted free agent entering the 2027 offseason — one year after Banchero's monster cap hit would begin.
Johnson has never shot below 34.9 percent from three. Only three Magic players this season are hitting at least 35 percent of their threes: Moe Wagner (out for season), Gary Harris (20 games) and Cory Joseph (29 games, 7.6 minutes/game).
Johnson's positional size and versatility are favorite measurables for the Magic.
Collin Sexton
2024-25 stats (as of Jan. 30): 18.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 47.9 FG%, 41.4 3PT% (4.7 attempts), 25.5 usage rate
Contract: $18.4 million (one year and $19.1 million left)
Sexton, 26, is piecing together another solid season — Utah is 8.0 points better per 100 possessions better with him on the floor — despite the Jazz's desire to position themselves for the future. Moving Sexton potentially gets Utah more draft cards and playing time for younger options.
His contract is a value, with one year left at $19.1 million. He's had experience as a starter or as an off-the-bench option.
A possible tradeoff for the Magic to consider is that Sexton is one of the NBA's poorest individual defenders. Could Orlando's staunch defensive identity help account for his (and others on the list's) margins gained or lost?
Anfernee Simons
2024-25 stats (as of Jan. 30): 18.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 42.6 FG%, 37.2 3PT% (8.1 attempts), 24.0 usage rate
Contract: $25.8 million (one year, $27.7 million left)
Simons, 25, is a pure scorer. Portland has young guards who could benefit from more playing time — primarily Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. Like Sexton, Simons is another individual defender opponents look to exploit, but his offensive firepower is undeniable.
Simons grew up in Central Florida and was named after Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, the Magic's four-time All-Star in the mid-1990s. Simons played basketball at Orlando Edgewater High School before transferring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Coby White
2024-25 stats (as of Jan. 30): 18.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 43.6 FG%, 36.2 3PT% (8.2 attempts), 22.5 usage rate
Contract: $12 million (one year, $12.8 million left)
White, 24, was a first-round pick by Chicago in 2019. Reports indicate the Bulls are "open for business," and the only untouchable player is rookie Matas Buzelis. The interest regarding Chicago guards gravitates toward Zach LaVine, but White is putting together a solid season and is another reliable shot creator.
Like many on this list, White's value is in his offensive play and ability as a ballhandler. At just $12 million this season and nearly $13 million next year, he's potentially the best value buy.
Another Bull drawing interest is Lonzo Ball, whose $21-million contract expires at the end of this season. Asked about Ball's winding journey to overcome injury, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said he "loves watching him play."
Malik Monk
2024-25 stats (as of Jan. 30): 18.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 44.8 FG%, 33.3 3PT% (7.0 attempts), 22.9 usage rate
Contract: $17.4 million (three years, $60.5 million left. Player option in final year.)
Monk, 26, is a secondary ball-handler with microwave scoring capabilities.
His contract is the longest on this list, but Monk is a proven scorer who can fit a variety of roles. At 6-foot-3, he is undersized for what the Magic generally prefer.
The De'Aaron Fox Sitaution
2024-25 stats (as of Jan. 30): 25.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 46.8 FG%, 32.1 3PT% (6.3 attempts), 28.2 usage rate
Contract: $34.8 million (one year, $37.1 million left)
Fox, 27, arguably became the best player available when reports surfaced Wednesday that Sacramento was listening to offers for its All-Star-caliber guard.
Should the Magic pursue Fox, they would be leveraging a lot for his services. Instantly, he'd raise both the floor and ceiling of this Magic team.
Yet, Fox is a high-usage player who needs the ball in his hands often to score and create for others. With Orlando's roster being built around the on-ball capabilities and two-man game of Banchero and Wagner, Fox potentially would disrupt the Magic's on-court dynamic.
It's also reported that Fox likes San Antonio as a destination for when he hits free agency in the 2026 offseason. The Magic assets needed to trade for Fox likely would be considerable and then re-signing Fox while keeping the trio of Banchero, Wagner and Suggs intact could be a challenge.
Thus, trading for a player of Fox's ability and compensation level poses more risk than reward for the Magic's future.
*All contract figures used in this story are courtesy of Spotrac.
The NBA Trade Deadline is Thursday, February 6 at 3 p.m. ET.
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