Wide Open East Means Orlando Magic Can't Afford Playoff Baby Steps

Tony Mejia | May 23, 2025

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is a player Orlando Magic star Paolo Banchero would've been afforded years to try and get past in previous generations, but the new NBA means time is not a luxury teams can afford. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Just over one year from now, the Orlando Magic might be preparing for an NBA Finals. That’s not a homer take. The only pro basketball team I root for is the one I’ve gambled on that night. This opinion isn’t meant to patronize you, nor offer false hope. Team president Jeff Weltman has said his team is in “win now” mode because it would be dishonest to say otherwise.

If the Magic aren’t in the Eastern Conference finals next season, it would be an expensive failure.

The Athletic’s David Aldridge pointed out that 15 of the NBA’s last 17 regular-season MVPs and 12 of the last 13 Finals MVPs failed to reach the conference finals. In that same column, he labeled the Magic an up-and-coming team that will soon have contract decisions to make in order to preserve flexibility.

That’s spot on. Not only is the Magic on the rise, but the window to reach their ceiling as presently constructed is closing fast. Star forward Paolo Banchero is expected to receive a long-term extension before training camp. He’s not going anywhere, but Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, who inked similar deals a year ago, could be moved if it meant bringing Giannis Antetokounmpo to town. 

Notice I didn’t write an Antetokounmpo-type. There’s only one Giannis, and if he wants to come to your team, you move mountains to make it happen. It doesn’t matter how much you like the view or how young those mountains are. That’s another column altogether.

This one is to serve as a reminder that there needs to be no more talk of graduating to another level next postseason. Progress needs to come in chunks. Just because the Magic haven’t made it out of the first round with this current group doesn’t mean its fan base can be appeased by simply winning a series next season. The conference Orlando plays in is winnable.

The title window, despite no playoff series wins in 15 seasons, is wide open. This season’s East champ will be in the NBA Finals for the first time in a quarter-century. The New York Knicks last got there in 1999, followed immediately by the Indiana Pacers in 2000. 

Getting this far again isn’t promised. The Boston Celtics, last season’s champions, will look different in 2025-26. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers, this past season’s top seed, haven’t reached a conference finals since LeBron James left again in 2018. Before he suited up for his hometown team thanks to a draft lottery he’s half-kiddingly said he thinks was fixed, the Cavs had reached the conference finals just once (1992) despite debuting in 1970.

While the Oklahoma City Thunder look like a juggernaut given their current success and all the future assets they’ve assembled, the East doesn’t have a dragon that can’t be slayed. This offseason’s biggest domino, whether Antetokounmpo will ask the Milwaukee Bucks to trade him, hasn’t dropped yet, but that’s another reason the conference can be won. 

Banchero has been on a media tour the past few weeks, appearing everywhere from NBC's "Today Show" to MLB Network. He’s excited to see new blood in the conference finals and said “it could be us” because he needs to think so to be the guy worth building around.

The Detroit Pistons have been brutal for years but now have a No. 1 pick turned All-Star leading the way, so winning the East with Cade Cunningham making another leap next season is possible. The same goes for Banchero improving and leading the Magic to the promised land. 

Whether he’s got a “Greek Freak” alongside him or is still working with Wagner, Suggs and the returning nucleus, Banchero is turning the pressure up for himself next season. 

The baby steps that used to be the norm in the NBA, losing to the same team for multiple years before graduating past them, are no longer in play. For Banchero, following in the footsteps of what Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls did against the Celtics and Pistons almost four decades ago, is ancient history. 

Remember how those first LeBron-led Cavs teams similarly got past Detroit after intense frustration? Banchero wasn’t even in Kindergarten yet. His ascension doesn’t need to come through getting past fellow Dukie Jayson Tatum after years of playoff misfortune. Due to Tatum’s Achilles tear, it remains to be seen whether the Celtics star is even in the mix next postseason. 

It’s great Banchero isn’t thinking about natural progression. The East is there for the taking, and time is quite literally money.

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Tony Mejia is a contributor to Orlando Magic On SI. If you want to talk Paolo Banchero MVP odds or the Magic's championship chances, find him on Twitter at @mejiadinero. He can also be reached at tnyce1414@gmail.com