In the only seven-game series of the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs, the Orlando Magic lost on the road to the Cleveland Cavaliers , 106-94, ending their season.
It was the first postseason appearance for the Magic since the bubble of 2020, and their 47-35 regular-season record was their best since the 52-30 mark of 2010-11, all the way back in the Stan Van Gundy / Dwight Howard era. One of the NBA’s worst franchises of the last decade finally found some form, some fun and some success. Now, the question becomes how to build on this going forward.
Because they have been led by young stars Paolo Banchero , Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs , the Magic have been able to do what they have done while keeping costs down. All three are on rookie-scale contracts, and thus the team is in an enviable position of being young, good and at a manageable cost. There therefore exists a window to add more talent before the bigger paydays come due, aided by the expiration of some of their more significant contracts at just the right times.
That said, to have potential flexibility is different to being able to convert that into meaningful additions, and the future big contracts will need budgeting for. It is therefore a balancing add between immediate possibilities and future necessities. With this in mind, here follows a look at the Orlando Magic’s roster and spending heading into the 2024 NBA offseason.
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State of the roster and offseason options
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The Banchero (
$12,160,800) , Wagner ($7,007,092) and Suggs ($9,188,385) trio remain cheap heading into the 2024-25 season, and of the younger talents, only
Cole Anthony ($12.9 million) has been paid in his second contract so far. Eight-figure or near eight-figure commitments to veterans such as
Wendell Carter Jr ($11,950,000),
Joe Ingles ($11 million) and
Mo Wagner ($8 million) reside on the books, but none are detrimental, and while the $17.4 million still owed to the fragile
Jonathan Isaac next season stands alone as an anomaly, that contract only has one year left to run, and
is also unguaranteed due to his past injuries. Financially, then, Orlando is quite well positioned, and is further aided this summer by the combined $30 million expiring salaries of
Gary Harris and
Markelle Fultz . They also still have their 2024 first-round pick, due to be No. 18, and have
several picks from other teams coming their way in future seasons, with none outgoing. All of this is to say that, while there are no premium assets, there are a plethora of useful ones. With less than $105 million committed heading into the offseason – a number that can be increased by declining the team options of Ingles and Mo Wagner – the Magic might be able to make a significant free agency splash before Franz Wagner and Suggs need paying, and then have Isaac expire right when they do. The contracts, then, are staggered well.
How the CBA affects them
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Although the latest NBA salary cap projection sees it set to increase by less than originally anticipated, it will nevertheless still be increasing, up to
a total of $141 million as of the last projection. This then puts the Magic in a position where they will easily had $30 million in cap space, and with the ability to make that number larger with some simple maneuvering. Wisely, Jonathan Isaac's big contract – signed back in December 2020 – contained substantial projections for the team if he was to suffer further injury absences. He has done so, and thus his $17.4 million contract for next season is fully unguaranteed. Isaac finally put together a good stretch of play this year and was a truly excellent defensive presence off the bench, but for the price he is being paid for that – and the better value that exists elsewhere – it is hard to see how he survives that unguaranteed portion again. Further to this, the aforementioned Ingles and Wagner can be made free agents and renounced if needed, as can Fultz and Harris. The Magic, then, have plenty of cap space that can be freed up with the loss of perhaps only one starter. And this should be enough for a
Klay Thompson -sized signing and more.
Free agent: Markelle Fultz
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- Unrestricted free agent; extension eligible until June 30
It is, as ever hard to gauge Fultz's value. At the ultimate pick-and-roll, floor-stretching position, he is not that sort of player, and the questions about his hardiness remain after
another mere 43-game regular season . Teams cannot rely upon those with only 234 regular season appearances in seven years, especially at the floor general position. At the same time, when healthy, Fultz provides athleticism, a full-court presence, some finishing in the lane and good defensive range. But
Anthony Black can do all of those things too, while being under contract for three years, having greater size, and plenty of youth on his side. For the Magic, it seems as though the Fultz era will have run its course – they will need to renounce him for cap space, and have largely replaced his on-court role in-house. For Fultz as an individual, perhaps the best thing to do will be to take a minimum-salary contract on a high-profile team and rebuild his career/value, in the way that
Malik Beasley and
Kelly Oubre have done this season. Perhaps there is also a path where he does that with the Magic. Any larger deal than that, however, should carry team-favorable incentives.
Free agent: Gary Harris
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Harris has been into the three-and-D phase of his career for a while now, and is
fairly effective at it , albeit on a low volume of shots. There is always something to be said for the
Eric Gordon-esque role , of an off-guard who requires few touches, stretches the floor and makes some timely defensive plays, and with Gordon long past Amen Corner and heading for the clubhouse, perhaps Harris can draw similar interest on the market. That said, Gordon's price tag in this role has been the minimum salary. Harris may be a candidate for a taxpayer MLE-sized deal somewhere, and perhaps here with Orlando (who have his Bird rights and require no other exceptions to do it). A big pay cut, though, seems inevitable, and as with Fultz, Orlando needs that cap space more than those Bird rights.
Free agent: Goga Bitadze
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In his fifth NBA season, Bitadze had a low-key yet legitimate breakout in the absence of Wendell Carter Jr. On the season, he had 33 regular season starts, and
averaged 5.0 points , 4.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 blocks in only 15.4 minutes per game. He has yet to become the stretch-five threat it was once thought that he might, but the shot-blocking instincts are excellent, and the decision-making ever improving. With this in mind, Bitadze now enters unrestricted free agency with some momentum, a much-improved CV and still with youth on his side. He will have only just turned 25 by the start of next season, and teams near the bottom of the NBA looking for redraft candidates and valuable steals might want to target Bitadze, knowing it will be difficult for Orlando to enter a bidding war. Partly because, as a fifth-year senior, they have no bidding rights, but also because a center that was out of the playoff rotation cannot be a priority for a team looking to take the next level up. Orlando has some good salary flexibility to work with this summer, and – by virtue of first signing Bitadze in February 2023 – have Early Bird rights on him. They do not need to renounce them, either, due to his minimum-salary cap hold. But where once an argument was being made that he might make Carter expendable in trade, it now seems more likely that Bitadze will want to go elsewhere.
Free agent: Mo Wagner
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Franz's brother re-signed with the Magic last summer to a two-year deal paying an even $8 million in each, and, having returned a
versatile 10.9 point per game average in only 17.7 minutes a contest during the regular season, he was good value for it. He will be again, too, if the team option is exercised. However, $8 million on an eighth man – even a good eighth man – is hard to prioritize when looking at a one-time opportunity for large cap space, and when the cap space market will have so few other competitors. It is possible that the option is exercised because good players for good prices can never be a bad thing. Yet if the Wagner brothers are to stay together, perhaps the post-cap room exception is the way to do it. At $8,006,000 in current projected value, he might even get a tiny pay jump with it.
Free agent: Joe Ingles
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Ingles was brought in on a one-year guaranteed deal with two purposes; to provide some immediate stability and veteran savvy in the frontcourt, and to do so while maintaining the cap space aspirations. He did the first half of the job, and to do the second, his option will need to be declined. Everything that has been said above of Mo Wagner, then, also applies here, with one added caveat; if Ingles is to return to the Magic, perhaps the minimum salary exception is enough.
2024-25 SALARY SITUATION
Players rostered: 11, including two team options Two-way players : None Guaranteed salaries: $66,092,357 Non-guaranteed salaries: $38,419,699 Total salary: $104,515,056 Projected 2024/25 salary cap amount: $141,000,000
- Maximum s alary cap space: Approximately $75 million
- Realistic salary cap space: Approximately $50 million
Projected 2024/25 luxury tax threshold: $171,345,000
- Luxury tax space: Plentiful
Projected 2024/25 first apron threshold: $178,655,000
- First apron space: Plentiful
Projected 2024/25 second apron threshold: $189,486,000
- Second apron space: Extremely plentiful
Projected 2024/25 room exception: $8,006,000
Spending options, in the unlikely event they opt not to use cap space: - Non-taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, $12,859,000 (projected)
- Bi-Annual Exception, $4,681,000 (projected)
Jonathan Isaac
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2024-25 salary: $17,400,000
Remaining salary guaranteed: $17,400,000 through 2024-25
Additional notes: - Extension-eligible at any time
Cole Anthony
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2024-25 salary: $12,900,000
Remaining salary guaranteed: $26,000,000 through 2025-26.
Additional notes: - Has a $13,100,000 team option for 2026-27.
Paolo Banchero
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2024-25 salary: $12,160,800
Remaining salary guaranteed: $12,160,800 through 2024-25.
Additional notes: - Has a $15,334,769 team option for 2025-26.
Wendell Carter
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2024-25 salary: $11,950,000
Remaining salary guaranteed: $22,800,000 through 2025-26
Additional notes: - Extension-eligible at any time
Joe Ingles
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2024-25 salary: $11,000,000 (team option)
Remaining salary guaranteed: None
Jalen Suggs
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2024-25 salary: $9,188,385
Remaining salary guaranteed: $9,188,385 through 2024-25.
Additional notes: - Rookie extension eligible this offseason
Mo Wagner
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2024-25 salary: $8,000,000 (team option)
Remaining salary guaranteed: None
Anthony Black
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2024-25 salary: $7,607,754
Remaining salary guaranteed: $7,607,754 through 2024-25.
Additional notes: - Has a team option for $7,970,028 in 2025-26.
- Has a team option for $10,105,996 in 2026-27.
Franz Wagner
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2024-25 salary: $7,007,092
Remaining salary guaranteed: $7,007,092 through 2024-25.
Additional notes: - Rookie extension eligible this offseason
Jett Howard
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2024-25 salary: $5,278,165
Remaining salary guaranteed: $5,278,165 through 2024-25.
Additional notes: - Has a team option for $5,529,506 in 2025-26.
- Has a team option for $7,337,655 in 2026-27.
Caleb Houstan
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2024-25 salary: $2,019,699
Remaining salary guaranteed: None
Additional notes: - 2024-25 salary is fully unguaranteed if waived on or before June 30 2024, thereafter fully guaranteed.
- Has a team option for $2,187,451 in 2025-26.
Markelle Fultz
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Cap hold: $25,500,000
Type of free agent: Full Bird (unrestricted)
Additional notes: - Extension-eligible until June 30.
Gary Harris
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Cap hold: $19,500,000
Type of free agent: Full Bird (unrestricted)
Chuma Okeke
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Cap hold: $15,800,139 (qualifying offer of $7,399,731 after not meeting starter criteria)
Type of free agent: Full Bird (restricted)
Goga Bitadze
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Cap hold: $2,093,637
Type of free agent: Early Bird (unrestricted)
Kevon Harris
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Cap hold: $1,867,722
Type of free agent: Early Bird (restricted)
Additional notes: - Gilbert Arenas clause is applicable.
Trevelin Queen
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Cap hold: $1,867,722
Type of free agent: Non-Bird (restricted)
Admiral Schofield
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Cap hold: $1,867,722
Type of free agent: Full Bird (unrestricted)
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