Magic Notebook: Injury Updates, Teams of Old, and Flight Miles

The Orlando Magic sit 23-21 entering Tuesday night's one-off road game in Toronto. They are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference, counting on the arrival of healthy bodies to join their second-half push.

From injury news to players' affinity for old teams of significance, and the Magic's unrelenting travel schedule, let's dive into several nuggets surrounding this Orlando team.

Injury updates

Franz Wagner

Franz Wagner, out since tearing an oblique muscle on Dec. 6, is getting closer to playing basketball again.

Wagner entered the return to reconditioning phase of his recovery on Jan. 14. On Jan. 17, Wagner participated in portions of the morning shootaround in Boston, then went through an extended on-court workout on his own. That evening, ESPN reported that Wagner had begun contact work and the Magic hoped that he would be available in the next 7-10 days.

#Magic forward Franz Wagner (return to competition reconditioning) going through an individual workout after Orlando’s shootaround in Boston: pic.twitter.com/JNYQoOCapJ
— Mason Williams (@mvsonwilliams) January 17, 2025

At the Kia Center on Sunday, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley updated Wagner's status: "Being able to get on the floor, do some conditioning, and getting a little bit more bumps with guys on the floor with him. He was able to do some stuff [Saturday] as well as [Sunday], and I think it's just going to see how responds to those two episodes."

Wagner remains out for Tuesday night's game with the Raptors. But if the return window of 7-10 days holds up, then Wagner could be available in any of the three following contests – Jan. 23 vs. Portland, Jan. 25 vs. Detroit, or Jan. 27 at Miami.

Jalen Suggs

Speaking with reporters Jan. 17 in Boston, Suggs said that he was "feeling better" after suffering a lower back strain in Orlando's Jan. 3 win at Toronto.

He also did some light court work in Boston as he prepares to return from a "tricky" injury — stationary ball-handling drills, triple-threat work, and movement. When asked how his fourth-year guard is feeling physically, Mosley said he looks okay but maintained his point about how tough these situations are to monitor.

"You have to go off of how they're feeling day to day, essentially after they've blown through whatever — how hard of a workout they can get through."

He remains out Tuesday night in Toronto.

Goga Bitadze

Bitadze is still working his way through concussion protocol. As of Sunday, the 25-year-old center is "still progressing slowly" after late-developing symptoms from the Magic's Jan. 12 game vs. Philadelphia. He's out for the Raptors matchup on Tuesday.

The Magic are 1-7 in eight games without Bitadze.

"Goga's one of a kind, man," Wendell Carter Jr. said on Sunday. "He's definitely missed. His presence just being on the court, his intensity, his attention to detail. ... He gets it. He's a fantastic basketball player. That's a guy you want on your team."

Jett Howard

On Sunday, Mosley said the second-year wing "was able to do a little bit more on the court" prior to the Denver game, but he was "still feeling some things" as he attempts to overcome a sprained left ankle.

Howard is questionable at Toronto.

Gary Harris

Harris has missed the past nine games with a left hamstring strain — an injury that he re-aggravated three games after returning from a 13-game absence.

Tuesday morning in Toronto, Harris said he "feel[s] good" and is working through the proper steps of his recovery, but he doesn't think he'll be ready to make his return versus the Raptors. He remains listed as questionable.

Other notes

Tristan da Silva required stitches after sustaining a cut above his right eye Sunday against Denver. He returned to the game in the second half and is available Tuesday night. "Eye's doing all right ... it doesn't hurt too much. It's got a couple stitches in it, so it's all good." It only bothers him if he tries to raise his eyebrows, he said.
Cole Anthony and Jonathan Isaac were each late adds to the Magic's injury report Tuesday with an illness.
Paolo Banchero has still been under a minutes restriction as he returns from a torn right oblique. In the five games since his return, he's averaging 21.4 points on shooting splits of 42.4 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three and 75.0 percent from the free throw line. He also is adding 6.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.8 turnovers in 27.6 minutes a game.

KCP's special first time facing Denver

Orlando Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (3) moves the ball past Denver Nuggets guard Julian Strawther (3) in the third quarter at Kia Center. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Sunday was not only the first time Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had faced his old team since signing with Orlando in the offseason, but also – with the exception of DeAndre Jordan, who works out with Caldwell-Pope at the same gym during the offseason – the first time seeing many of his old teammates since his departure from the franchise.

As you can imagine, it was a love affair between the veteran guard and the team he won his second NBA title with.

Orlando is the fifth team he's played for in his 11-plus-year NBA career. But prior to the matchup with the Nuggets on Sunday, he told locker room reporters that the contest would be a little different for him.

"Always the championship teams, the brothers, the ones that you go all the way with," Caldwell-Pope said. "For me, I always look at it as a fun, competitive game but still take it serious. It's always good to play against your old teammates, your old friends; just have fun out there and still compete at the same time."

Denver coach Michael Malone said that Caldwell-Pope "will always be a Nugget in our eyes" after helping the franchise to its first-ever Larry O'Brien trophy in 2023.

"We love him and we miss him," Malone continued.

"I have so much respect for Mike," Caldwell-Pope said. "He's a great coach – to me, he was. He always stood on his business and wanted the best out of his players."

Before the game tipped off, Caldwell-Pope came and embraced Malone on the sideline. The two teams will face off once more in the regular season when Orlando travels to Denver on Feb. 6. Already overwhelmed with emotion from seeing so many of the former teammates he made history with, he's not yet sure how different it will be when he again plays at Denver.

That doesn't mean he hasn't already got plans for how he wants his return to go, though.

"I hope when I get back – I already talked to DJ (DeAndre Jordan) and AG (Aaron Gordon) about it – they better have like a five-minute tribute. I don't want a short one," Caldwell-Pope joked.

Trevelin Queen soaks in Boston trip, remembers love for Celtics as a kid

Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) shoots the ball over Orlando Magic guard Trevelin Queen (12) during the second half at TD Garden. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Back in December, after 27-year-old two-way guard Trevelin Queen learned he'd be making his first career start for the Magic, he "couldn't stop smiling."

It was a career night for the former New Mexico State guard, who's been a journeyman all throughout college and his time in the pros – both in the G League and NBA. That evening, in an improbable win over the defending champs, Queen scored 17 points, buried three triples and logged three steals in a 108-104 victory.

But before he'd ever logged a stat, the contest was already special. Queen, born in Baltimore, grew up a Celtics fan. So as the Magic made their only trip to Boston during the regular season this past week, Queen was sure to soak in everything that he could.

"As a kid, you put it in perspective, you always dream of being on an NBA court," Queen told Magic on SI. "To actually be out there on the [TD Garden] court, being able to play against [the Celtics], it's just a surreal moment.

"Once one of those dreams come true, you have to just embrace it and live in the moment."

Queen went on to say Rajon Rondo was his favorite point guard growing up and Ray Allen is his favorite player of all time, idolizing him as a shooter. He recalls his fandom tracing back to a Boston Paul Pierce jersey, which was the second NBA jersey he ever owned (Kobe Bryant was first.)

"Since that day, just seeing that green, and I think it was something like the clover [or] the leprechaun. I always believed in good luck, I always found four-leaf clovers when I was a kid," Queen said. "I think naturally, it all just came together for some reason."

The winning helped, too, but even Queen couldn't explain how it felt everything just came together for him and his affinity for Boston. To that point, even the shoes he wore into the arena that evening had a unique tie to Boston.

Queen wore a pair of "Orange Lobster" Nike Dunk Low SBs, a concept shoe created by CNCPTS, a shoe store that resides on Newbury Street in Boston and has a design partnership with Nike. Yet, he admittedly wasn't aware of the backstory behind them.

The "Orange Lobster" Nike Dunk Low SBs, created by CNCPTS in Boston. Queen wore them into the arena ahead of the Jan. 17 matchup with the Boston Celtics. | Nike

"When I was broke, I was like, 'I need those,' he said. "I got my first two-way contract in Houston, that's the first thing I went to get. As soon as I went to Summer League in Vegas, I grabbed them. It was like $900 and I was like, 'Yeah, I can't do this no more.' But I needed those bad boys. Nice little orange, too... just exquisite shoes. I just love them."

After being told about the happy accident, Queen was nearly in disbelief.

"I'm telling you, everything is inevitable with Boston."

And-one: A short opinion on the Magic's travel schedule oddities

Orlando is in Toronto for a one-off road contest on Tuesday night, which by itself isn't odd.

What doesn't make sense, however, is that Orlando spent time up north just this past week. Instead of going from Milwaukee to Boston to Toronto and knocking out all three games in one fell swoop, Orlando flew in the late hours of the night back home to host the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. The Magic then hopped back on a plane to Toronto Monday, plays there tonight, then comes back home for a two-game homestand that begins on Thursday.

It's not hard to figure out how much simpler it would've been to face Toronto on Sunday and Denver on Tuesday, meaning the two-road, one-home, one-road, two-home split could've rather been a three-road, three-home slate.

Such instances can happen multiple times throughout the year. For instance, to begin the New Year, Orlando played at Detroit on Jan. 1 and Toronto on Jan. 3. They then flew home for a single home game versus Utah on Jan. 5, then turned around and played the next night in New York on Jan. 6. The Magic then had three nights off before a three-games-in-four-days homestand at the Kia Center.

Surely it would've been simpler to just stay up north, fly to New York after the Toronto contest and then play Utah afterward. It would've amounted to a three-game road trip then a four-game homestand as opposed to the two-road, one-home, one-road, three-home stretch that ensued.

For as much time as we spend hammering the schedule for back-to-backs and high volumes of games in short time spans, teams' travel schedules have their own issues that can be improved upon as well.

Granted, I'm sure the fix isn't as simple as it seems. Arena availability is different everywhere and the entire NBA calendar assembly process would likely need a facelift.

But every team – not just the Magic – would benefit from a more favorable travel schedule.

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