The Magic Trading This Core Piece Would Be Massive Blunder

The heart and soul of the team.

The head of the snake.

The face of your team identity.

This is all the Magic would be giving up by moving on from Jalen Suggs, who has been at the center of their team’s defensive focus, dialing in on forcing turnovers and scoring points off them these past five seasons, living up to the standard set by recently let-go Head Coach, Jamahl Mosley.

Trading Suggs is the wrong move

Suggs passe — May 1, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs (4) passes the ball against Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) in the fourth quarter during game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images | Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

Moving Suggs would not only turn the page on the previous era, it would practically start a new book.

The team can only afford so many stars, the recent playoff series against an elite Detroit defense saw a bad shooting stretch, and his point guard role this season hasn’t always been ideal; he sees the complaints, the Magic see the complaints, and while deciding to give up and move on altogether is one option, allowing Suggs room to develop his weaknesses into strengths as he has all his career is the smarter bet.

While some of the criticism is fair, like Suggs needing to further find his balance between effective flare high-risk high-reward entertainment and maniacal playmaking precision, and there’s plenty of viable paths to building a roster or allocating big salaries to different players that could also work on paper, moving Suggs at this point in the team-building process could be shortsighted.

Until further notice, Orlando’s best offense is its best defense; losing the player who creates as many deflections/steals/blocks as any Magic player, who is right there with Franz Wagner as the Magic’s most impactful defender, would completely dismantle their defensive identity of ball-pressure leading to easy looks in transition.

The Magic’s roster is currently built around Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, and Desmond Bane creating looks for themselves and others from the paint via drive and postups. Suggs’ normal role would be 3rd if not 4th in command, ideally used as a secondary connector who hits the open three after ball finds its way back to him once the defense has already been bent.

Orlando using Suggs as ball-handler in P&R becomes a plus to create advantages for Magic’s primary star scorers to attack a bent defense. But when Orlando is at its best, Suggs, Bane, and Black are relocating around the perimeter, keeping the ball moving for the open man, as Franz, Banchero, and the ball-handlers take turns attacking the rack until the gap or best play reveals itself.

Suggs has developed every season into one of the top two-way players in the NBA. He was bottom-five impact as a rookie, compared to now this season rating Top-30 in impact via EPM before the injuries, when only a handful of players rated as highly as him on offense and defense, such as Derrick White and a few NBA Unicorns. Suggs finished the season Top-50 after injuries seemed to zap a bit of his shooting, playing through a lot of pain to give his team a chance at a playoff run.

From improving his finishing at the rim early in his career to developing his efficiency and versatility all around as a scorer next, to fine-tuning his 3pt jump shot next, to improving as a decision maker with more on-ball point guard reps overall even if he's not at the consistency he'd like to be, Suggs has shown real improvement every season and has given detractors no reason to believe his development will stop any time soon, even if it's not always linear.

Suggs talks about his goals of development, love for the game, and love for this city of Orlando every chance he gets.

I asked Jalen Suggs about his Pick-and-Roll development, hitting clutch "pull-up trees", and the opportunity to close tonight's game on the ball

"It was a beautiful opportunity tonight to continue working on and applying everything I've been working on."

(🎥: @OrlandoMagic) pic.twitter.com/fsPB9FHBBS
— Ryan Kaminski NBA (@beyondtheRK) December 9, 2024

One of the best shot-blocking guards and pick-six thieves in the league, with All-Defensive status, point-of-attack screen navigating prowess, Suggs is already arguably the best defender in the league, especially at his age going forward.

Then when you add he is a capable 3pt shooter on and off the ball on high volume over one full season and plenty of impressive stretches throughout his career, he has improved his versatility as a scorer, he has developed feel as a two-way playmaker forcing turnovers and dropping dimes, and he still has potential on the ball to become a more consistent overall decision-maker and shot creator, that the sum of his parts still has real two-way star potential as a one man face of the franchise pace pushing points off turnovers walking highlight.

Giving up on all that potential over a playoff series or a theoretical bad fit when the team is missing key ingredients seems premature; Orlando's front office led by Jeff Weltman has found incremental growth through its patient teambuildling process, and this unit should evaluate the development next season on how the team looks with full health after two years of not having it.

That is especially true if you nail the coaching hire to get the most out of the shooting gravity of Suggs, Bane, and Black.

At his best, Suggs single-handedly swings games in winning margins like forcing turnovers, points off turnovers, assists to turnovers, and 3pt volume.

If Orlando’s patience runs out, Suggs’ deal is descending annually to under $30M, making it moveable, but also making it just as valuable to keep him. An All-Defensive guard, let alone a potential star, is well worth that percentage of the salary cap if the team can find the rotation and lineup balance it's searching for.

Moving on from one of your homegrown potential two-way star talents already prematurely cost the Magic once when they traded Oladipo before he became All-NBA two years later after just a little bit of opportunity, work ethic, and patience; making the same mistake twice wouldn’t surprise fans, only further disappoint them.

While there’s a case to be made this roster needs a shakeup to perfect floor balance, change for the sake of change doesn’t always push things in the right direction.

Suggs taking his game from nights of mastery mixed with mayhem to night-to-night consistency is what can still unlock his game from an elite defender to a super connector, and losing that talent due to rushing the team building process would be a shame when Orlando has patiently reached this point despite the injuries.

Everyone a part of the Orlando Magic – from the organization, to the team, to the fans – deserve to see Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, and Paolo Banchero, let alone Desmond Bane, Anthony Black, Wendell Carter Jr. and crew, play together at full strength for a real sample of games.

Jamahl Mosley has already become the sacrificial lamb for this team's failures. There's no need to speed up a timeline that isn't there when you can still develop the balanced unit you want from within.

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