What’s the Ceiling for the Orlando Magic?
The Orlando Magic are one of the younger teams in the NBA, looking to make a name for themselves. With the Oklahoma City Thunder becoming the youngest team ever to win an NBA Championship, the expectations and possibilities for what a young team can do have changed. All-star Paolo Banchero is leading the Magic, and behind him is a dominant defense and an offense that has been significantly improved this offseason. With all these strengths, it is clear that the Magic are ready to make a name for themselves this upcoming season.
The current standings of the Eastern Conference have opened up a path for the Magic to be one of the top teams in the conference. The Boston Celtics will be without Jayson Tatum, and the Indiana Pacers will be without Tyrese Haliburton. Both of these teams placed higher in the regular season standings than the Magic last year, and with their best players sitting out for the season, the Magic can eclipse the weakened rosters. The Milwaukee Bucks also have a weakened roster. They lost Brook Lopez in free agency and cut Damian Lillard. While they signed Myles Turner, it's unlikely that he will compensate for the production of both of these starters. These three teams all paced higher than the Magic in the previous season, and seeing as how their rosters have downgraded, it's fair to say the Magic will likely pass them up.
The Magic’s success doesn't just rely on how the Eastern Conference has weakened; this offseason, the Magic have improved their roster while maintaining their biggest strength. In the previous season, the Magic had the second-highest defensive rating in the league. The only team to have a higher defensive rating is the Oklahoma City Thunder, which went on to win a championship. The defense is easily the biggest strength that the Magic had going; however, the same cannot be said for their offense. Their offensive rating ranked 27th out of the 30 teams in the league. This has been remedied by trading for Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies. Bane is a solid offensive player and has shown that he can average 20 or more points if the opportunity is given. His scoring ability will take pressure off of Paolo and Franz Wagner, who finished the season averaging 25.9 and 24.1, respectively.
The Magic are primed to compete for a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference. The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers kept most of their rotation players, so it's unlikely that the Magic can overtake them. However, the Magic were only three games behind Detroit, and they haven't made an upgrade to their roster as significant as Desmond Bane. If the Magic are fortunate enough not to suffer from freak injuries or poor team chemistry, they could even finish as high as third in the conference. With their improved offense and dominant defense, they should be a guarantee to make it past round one of the playoffs. This is most likely where their 2025-2026 season ends. In round two, the Magic will likely have to face either the Knicks or the Cavs, and both of these teams possess players who can carry the entirety of a team's offense single-handedly in Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell. Since the Magic don't have a player this talented in scoring, it's likely this is where their season will end. They will have drastically improved from the previous season, leaving room to make moves in next year's offseason.
