Magic Focus on 'Controlling the Controllables' as NBA Trade Deadline Looms

It remains to be seen whether Thursday's trade deadline could bring a shakeup for the Orlando Magic, who are doing their best to block out the noise and pull themselves out of their prolonged rut.

Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (50) controls the ball against the Denver Nuggets in the third quarter at Kia Center. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The NBA has a way of refreshing everyone involved that, yes, this is a business.

This past weekend's blockbuster Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers is perhaps the most astonishing exchange in league history. But what has it taught the NBA's other 28 teams?

"It's a reminder that there are only a few in this league that can go to sleep with any type of confidence," Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry said Monday.

Curry one day will retire as one of the game's greatest players and undeniably the greatest shooter. Maybe he's among the select few who know that comfort. If a 25-year-old, five-time first-team All-NBA performer fresh off leading his team to the NBA Finals is a tradeable commodity though, then Curry's got a point.

The 2025 trade deadline is less than 48 hours away. Outlooks for this season and beyond can be altered depending on transactions that happen or don't happen by Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline.

Since Dec. 15, when trade restrictions were lifted for many players around the league and the unofficial wheeling-and-dealing portion of the season began, the Orlando Magic and specifically president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman have yet to get involved in a trade.

MORE: An in-depth look at the Magic's situation this trade deadline

The Doncic-Davis deal "shocked" veteran Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said the trade "shook up the league, and that's an understatement in a lot of ways."

Mosley, who was a Mavericks assistant before becoming Magic head coach three-plus years ago, on Monday said both organizations must have felt that the deal was the best thing for them. In the next breath, his focus turned inward.

"Right now, just really concentrating and focusing on this group and how we continue to get our collective energy better and continue to come out and play the right type of basketball," he said.

What followed was the Magic's ninth defeat in 10 games — a 104-99 loss to Golden State — that put them at 24-27, three games below .500 for the first time since Nov. 6.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) shoots the ball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

As of Tuesday afternoon, with 31 games to play, Orlando is the East's 8th-place team. They're two games behind Miami for the sixth spot, which would avoid the Play-In, and a game and a half behind Detroit for seventh. Atlanta is a half-game behind the Magic in ninth, and four games remain between the two Southeast Division rivals. Each one figures to have major implications in determining playoff seeding.

Even with leading scorers Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero together in the lineup for the first time since the season's fifth game, the Magic have lost five of six games — three by double figures. Injuries have limited All-Defensive guard Jalen Suggs to one game in the past month.

While the Magic's prolonged struggles — they're 9-20 since the beginning of December — may stoke talk of a roster shakeup, Mosley said it's important for players not to let the deadline's presence be a distraction. But human nature — and Doncic for Davis — makes that easier said than done.

"You can't decide what someone else is going to do with where you are in the league, but you can focus on how you show up every single day as a professional and play the game," Mosley said.

"I know personally, for me, it doesn't make any sense for me to sit here, work myself up, [and] stress myself out about something that I have no control over and may or may not happen," Cole Anthony said after Monday's game. "I just don't think it makes sense."

Anthony scored a game-high 26 points off the Magic bench Monday — his 17th double-figure night. After a slow start to his year and falling out of the rotation completely, he's averaging 9.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 42.1 percent shooting from the field and 31.7 percent from three.

Playing on the first year of a three-year, $39.1-million extension with a club option the final season, his flexible contract and team control could be enticing for other suitors.

"It's there. Everyone's aware of it," Anthony added. "Just our unit, we're taking it one day at a time, trying not to stress about it too much and trying to dig ourselves out of this hole. I think that's been our main focus. [If] something happens, something happens. Something doesn't happen, [then] something doesn't happen. But we're just staying patient and not overthinking it."

Is it nerve-wracking that one person or one move could dictate his future? When broken down like that, it can be, Anthony admitted.

"To a degree, they control our destiny," Anthony said.

"But [at] the end of the day man, I just try to focus on myself, focus on this unit and control what I can control."

Related Stories on the Orlando Magic

• SUGGS 'PROGRESSING OK' THROUGH LEFT QUAD INJURY: Jalen Suggs missed his fourth straight game on Monday night. CLICK HERE
• HOW RECENT FOX, LUKA TRADES AFFECT MAGIC'S TRADE DEADLINE OUTLOOK: Has the changing landscape at the trade deadline affected Orlando's plans? CLICK HERE
• MAGIC STICKING WITH BANCHERO THROUGH GROWING PAINS: Paolo Banchero is struggling to rediscover his rhythm, but the Orlando Magic have his back during the process. CLICK HERE

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