Orlando Magic cashing in on incentives driving NBA Cup pursuit

The Magic have arrived in Las Vegas and are preparing for Saturday's semifinal vs. New York.

21-year-old Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black is a mainstay on the third-youngest roster in the NBA who can use a bonus payday winning the NBA Cup would provide. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

While the NBA Cup is all about teaching the inexperienced Orlando Magic how to win now that we’ve reached the knockout stages, there’s some coin to be had too. Even veteran-filled former champions like the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks have enjoyed the bonus winning this event provides, but for a Magic team loaded with youth, an unexpected payday carries even more meaning.

The Magic owns the third-youngest roster in the NBA, checking in at 24.7 years of age. Only Brooklyn and Washington are collectively younger. Anthony Black, Jase Richardson and Noah Penda have been on the active roster all season and are 21 or younger.

Sure, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs have all signed lucrative extensions at the conclusion of their rookie deals, but they’re all heavily invested in making sure others on the roster and staff have a shot at some spoils just before the holidays.

All Star forward Paolo Banchero of Orlando Magic talks about #NBACup stakes other than roughly $480k each Magic player can still be awarded by winning the cup in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/qojDqjgyH1

— Darko Dželetović (@DarkoBasketball) December 12, 2025

"You know we have a lot of young guys, we’ve got a lot of guys who could really use the money including myself and everybody, so playing for something extra like that, obviously you want to go after it,” Banchero said at NBA Cup media availability on Friday. “Besides the money, I think the atmosphere that’s created when it’s a Cup game, whether it’s at home or on the road, just with the courts and everything, it kind of creates a different environment for you.”

Orlando’s players have already secured at least an extra $106,187 per man even if they lose in the semifinals. The Miami Heat earned themselves an extra $53,093 by reaching the quarterfinals before losing to the Magic.

The NBA Cup winners will earn themselves an additional $530,933 per player, while the runners-up will take home $212,373 per man. Desmond Bane joked that he just lost $35,000 to a league fine for his dodgeball move on OG Anunoby last time Orlando faced New York, so he’s looking for a way to make up for what he lost.

Magic can positively draw upon NBA Cup experience come playoffs

Beyond the financial incentive the NBA Cup provides, these winner-take-all games are providing invaluable experience for a roster composed mostly of guys that have yet to even get out of the first round of the playoffs. Only veteran guards Bane and Tyus Jones have won a series and played deep into May, and there’s no one on the roster who has reached a conference finals. 

Getting past the Knicks would put many Magic players in position to compete for a championship for the first time since they were amateurs. The road to Las Vegas has been filled with games that have helped ramp up the intensity and Orlando responded by sweeping East Group B that included the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets. They then rallied from 15-0 down to eliminate another team ranked among the East’s top-eight in the Heat.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a playoff environment, but it’s definitely not a normal regular-season game environment. Stuff is a little elevated, obviously teams play a little harder, point differential matters so you have to play the whole 48, stuff like that,” Banchero said. “It creates a lot more excitement with the league. It’s something early in the season that we can play for and get up for. As far as our team, we’ve been close the last two years as far as advancing to Vegas, so for us to finally get here and continue our success in the Cup it’s a big confidence boost.”

The Magic were eliminated in the knockout stage by the Bucks last season and failed to advance despite a 3-1 group record due to point differential in the inaugural go-round. Will a franchise that has never won a championship but has hung a few conference title banners raise one commemorating an NBA Cup conquest to the rafters at Kia Center? Team officials were non-committal, but the Orlando Magic would love to be faced with that decision when this event is over.