Magic Receive Excellent Grade After Crucial Offseason Home Runs

The Orlando Magic used the summer to seize on an opportunity to be one of the best team's in the league next year, and the nation is noticing.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) reacts after a play against the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

With no clear-cut heavyweight in the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic used a productive offseason to stake their claim as contenders. Orlando’s front office utilized free agency and the NBA Draft to create a roster worthy of a ring and national attention.

In a recent offseason grading list, Yahoo gave the Magic an A for their big-time summer.

“No team in the East took a bigger swing at contention in the absence of Tatum and Haliburton than the Magic, who swapped Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the rights to four first-round draft picks with the Grizzlies for Desmond Bane, one of the most underrated shooting guards in the league,” it wrote.

“Orlando was a pesky out in the first round of the playoffs, as both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner flashed their worth as max-contracted players. It was clear the Magic lacked talent in the backcourt, where Jalen Suggs was injured for the postseason. He will return to a corps that now includes Bane, Tyus Jones and rookie Jase Richardson. That is a sizable upgrade for a team in desperate need of shooting.”

The acquisitions of Bane, Jones and Richardson skyrocketed the Magic’s over/under win total to 51.5 after finishing 41-41 last season. Orlando hasn’t posted a 50-win season since 2010-11.

Add Banchero’s recent max extension into the fold, and health may be the only obstacle standing in the way of this team from journeying to the mountain top.

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