What's Magic 'Best Case Scenario' for Next Season?
As the NBA offseason continues to drag along, many Orlando Magic fans are left dreaming of what could be this season, so let’s explore what a perfect season would look like for the team.
Last year, the Magic drafted Paolo Banchero No. 1 overall, and he went on to win the NBA Rookie of The Year Award. This year, they weren’t quite as lucky in the lottery. However, that doesn’t mean No. 6 pick Anthony Black and No. 11 overall pick Jett Howard don’t have potential.
In a best-case scenario, it’s fathomable that both players carve out solid roles as backups in their first year. Hopefully, Howard can shoot around 39 percent from three-point range, helping solve the team's current issue with spacing, and Black proves to be an elite playmaker running the team's second unit en route to both rookies making NBA All-Rookie teams.
As for the reigning Rookie of The Year, Paolo’s perfect season requires taking home some hardware. Last season he was ROTY, this season, he should be going for the Most Improved Player award and earning his first All-Star appearance by averaging around 25 points and getting his three-point percentage to be the NBA average of 35 percent rather than his 30 percent average from 2022.
Orlando’s small forward, Franz Wagner, must stay the course. His shooting from deep is already average, and he’s been reliable as a scorer for the team. If he can elevate his scoring average to 20 or more points which aren’t far from his 18.6 points last season, he’ll continue to be a high-end starter.
Former No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz averaged 14 points and 5.7 assists last year, both of which were career highs, but for him to keep Black on the bench, he’ll need to improve both. If Fultz can improve his assists to around 7 per game and increase his three-point shot to near the league average, it’s conceivable that he will raise his scoring average to 16 or so points which would help an already strong defensive team win more games.
The current Big Three of the Magic has potential this season, but Fultz wasn’t always looking like the answer for the team at guard, and on the journey up until this point, the franchise drafted some players who are now clogging up the backcourt. In this fantasy world, players like Jalen Suggs, Gary Harris, and Cole Anthony are packaged together with draft capital for a disgruntled contributor on another team like aging veteran Paul George as the team looks to accomplish its final goal in this scenario.
Finally, a best-case scenario for the Magic requires that the team makes the playoffs and advance to at least the second round for the first time since 2009-10. To avoid the NBA Play-In last year, the No. 6 seeded Brooklyn Nets needed 45 wins, so let’s hope that with the scoring increase of the players mentioned above, the team can get 11 more wins than last year, avoid the tournament and win a series.
Will some of this happen? Perhaps. Will all of this happen? Almost certainly not, but until then, Orlando fans can continue dreaming of sunny days and a Magic turnaround for the franchise.
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