3 Magic Players Fighting for Their Job This Preseason

Training camp is just around the corner for the Orlando Magic as they hope to become one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Magic are returning 13 players from their roster last season, so there won't be too many changes in terms of player personnel, but new head coach Sean Sweeney could finagle with the rotation. The same players who saw looks last season might not be afforded the same opportunities this year. Here's a look at three players who are fighting for a spot in the rotation.

Jamal Cain

Jamal Cain burst onto the scene last season as a two-way player, but ultimately joined the rotation in the middle of March. He played well enough to get converted to a standard deal and parlayed that into a spot in Jamal Mosley's playoff rotation, including starts in games 5 through 7 when Franz Wagner was hurt.

Now that Mosley is no longer with the team, Cain will have to earn the trust of Sweeney's coaching staff. He definitely did enough to warrant minutes in last year's playoffs, but it remains to be seen if he can carry that into the new season.

Cain has likely been working his tail off all offseason now that he has gotten a taste of being a regular NBA player. Having a wing like Cain is something the Magic have needed for many years, and having the chance to develop one is a massive plus.

However, if Sweeney were to employ a nine-man rotation, it means Cain is either on the outside or he will bump out one of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Wendell Carter Jr., Anthony Black, Tristan da Silva, Jevon Carter or Nikola Vucevic.

Noah Penda

Penda came into the league last season as a second-round pick with a defensive profile that allowed him to play right away. Penda saw minutes early and often in his rookie year, and you could sense that he was growing as a player as the season went on.

Now that he is going into his second season, he has put in a lot of work, and he's ready for that to show. The Magic believe Penda could be their defensive forward off the bench for the next several years, so it will be interesting to see how much his game has developed since the summer.

Goga Bitadze

Bitadze spent most of last season as the team's backup center, but there's a little more competition at his position now that Moe Wagner has been replaced by Nikola Vucevic. Bitadze has played in 60 or more games in each of his first three full seasons in Orlando.

Now that he's approaching year 4, he may be on the outside looking in. Vucevic and Bitadze offer very different skill sets, which could help his chances of seeing the floor, but it may not be as often as it was last season, when he played just 15 minutes per game.

Ultimately, it was a long NBA season, and Bitadze will step in when Vucevic or Wendell Carter Jr. are out with injuries, so having three reliable big men is important. It just remains to be seen if he will be in the main rotation.

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