Three Things NBA Preview: Orlando Magic
As I detailed a few weeks ago, I’m once again re-appropriating the Three Things I Noticed on League Pass format to preview the upcoming season. Instead of three things I noticed, it’ll be something more along the lines of three things I’m looking forward to, interested in, or want to see. Some of them might be narrative-based, some might be stats, and some might include video. But they'll all be focused on the 2025-26 campaign.
The schedule for those posts will be as follows (podcasts for each division with Mo Dakhil are in parentheses):
- Sept. 1-5: Atlantic Division (BOS, BKN, NYK, PHI, TOR) (Podcast)
- Sept. 8-12: Central Division (CHI, CLE, DET, IND, MIL)
- Sept. 15-19: Southeast Division (ATL, CHA, MIA, ORL, WAS) (Podcast)
- Sept. 22-26: Pacific Division (GSW, LAC, LAL, PHX, SAC) (Podcast)
- Sept. 29-Oct. 3: Northwest Division (DEN, MIN, OKC, POR, UTA)
- Oct. 6-10: Southwest Division (DAL, HOU, MEM, NOP, SAS)
So without further ado, let's get to the Orlando Magic, who were booted from the playoffs by Boston Celtics in a series where they defended with gusto but could not remotely come close to putting the ball in the basket.
Desmond Bane, fitting in
I wrote rather extensively about the Bane trade when it happened. Here's an excerpt:
Bane makes a ton of sense for what the Magic actually need. He is a plus-plus shooter for a team that has desperately needing shooting as badly as any team has needed anything in recent seasons. The Magic are not merely the worst outside shooting team in the league. They were the worst this past season by almost 2 percentage points, even beyond the lowly Wizards. And Bane isn't just a good shooter. He's one of the best shooters in the NBA — both off the catch (43.2% from deep for his career) and off the dribble (38.5%). He doesn't fully solve Orlando's shooting problems — it's still a team otherwise full of average-at-best shooters — but he is a major salve for the issue. His presence on the floor alone should provide easier opportunities for the Magic's other stars than they have been afforded to date.
Bane also allows the Magic to continue their efforts to build around big wings, which seems like an organizational ethos. He, Banchero, and Wagner are all big, physical dudes. He's somewhat different than the type of guys the Magic under Jeff Weltman and John Hammond have targeted because he has a negative wingspan differential (i.e. his wingspan is smaller than his listed height), but his build and his effort and his IQ have mostly allowed him to be a strong defensive presence throughout his career, so he should fit right in with what Jamahl Mosley has done on that end of the floor. He and Jalen Suggs should form a really nice tandem in the backcourt, making it extremely difficult for opposing ball-handlers to create advantages at the point of attack.
Bane also gives the Magic another ball-handling option, which should take some of the burden off of both Banchero and Wagner, who have at times seemed over-extended trying to create absolutely everything off the dribble for this team. Bane has extensive experience working as the primary shot creator due to both all the time Ja Morant has missed due to injury or suspension and the minutes Bane played with Morant on the bench.
He's become a more aggressive driver (he's gone from averaging 7.6 drives per 100 possessions as a rookie to 8.7, 13.3, 16.1, and 15.6) and a better and more creative passer (he topped 10 potential assists per 36 minutes in each of the last two seasons) in recent years, and shifting some of the creation responsibility to him should free Banchero and Wagner to pursue only the best creation opportunities and alleviate some of the pressure they've had to take bad shots because there was little chance that anyone else on the floor could create something better. Banchero has been relatively inefficient for a player who has commanded the type of usage he's carried during his career (he's yet to truly approach league average in either effective field goal percentage or true shooting percentage), but he now shouldn't have to carry the 33.6% usage rate he had this season and should be able to slide back into a more comfortable 27-30% range, and he should receive a corresponding efficiency bump.
The idea of Bane, Banchero, and Wagner all screening for each other on and off the ball is definitely an intriguing one. Banchero, in particular, seems like he would benefit from running a lot of two-man action with Bane — whether of the pick-and-roll or dribble hand-off variety — both because it would provide him with cleaner driving lanes when he's the one with the ball and because he'd get some chances when popping to the perimeter and/or in the short roll that haven't presented themselves as often because the Magic have never had somebody who can consistently make threes off the dribble like Bane can. Banchero is a massive dude and giving him some more downhill opportunities that he doesn't have to create all by himself would do him a lot of good. And perhaps someone like Bane can loosen things up enough for Wagner that he can somehow rediscover his own jumper. Failing that, again, providing him with wider driving lanes should be beneficial in the same way that it will be for Banchero.
Having a trio of players who can create off the dribble and pass well for their position also provides each of them more opportunities to attack closing-out defenders on the weak side. Because of his shooting and his size Bane has always been good at doing that, and he's more of a playmaker in those situations now than he was when he came into the league. Wagner is a similar kind of attacker in those situations, but his shot has fallen off over the last two years. With both Banchero and Bane on the floor, he should be more open than ever, perhaps even open enough to get off that jumper that developed a hitch late last season. (Hopefully he hammers that out and goes back to actually hitting his treys.) Banchero simply hasn't had that many chances to attack when somebody created the advantage for him, but now should be afforded many more of those than before.
Read more about the deal here.
