The Orlando Magic have promising young talent on their roster, but they have the worst record in the league at 13-47 and will be vying for another high draft pick in 2022.
There are still some things to consider for this season, though. Here are two burning questions for the Magic after the 2022 All-Star break.
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Burning Magic Questions
1. Which young players are worth keeping?
For a fairly long time, the Magic tried to become a stable playoff team. They would never get too high of a seed, but they made the postseason for two seasons in a row after missing it for six years. Now, they are in their second straight season without the playoffs after trading away their best players last season and going into a rebuild.
The Magic have given youngsters Cole Anthony, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr., Jalen Suggs, Mo Bamba, and Chuma Okeke big minutes this season as they try to figure out who is worth building around. This list does not include Markelle Fultz or Jonathan Isaac, two other young players on the roster who have not played this season because of injuries.
How do Fultz and Isaac fit into the equation? Both players have shown a lot of potential when healthy, but it is hard to rely on them right now because of their respective histories. Fultz plays the same position as Anthony, while Suggs is a shooting guard. Fultz just signed a new contract this past offseason and could be hard to trade because of his situation, or at least it could be hard to get good value.
Isaac has not played since the bubble, and it is unclear when he will be back. The big man signed a four-year extension in late 2020 and is Defensive Player of the Year material when healthy, but the Magic now have a bunch of other young players in place in the frontcourt. That includes Bamba, who is set to hit restricted free agency this offseason.
This Orlando front office needs to figure out who to keep and settle on a core that works best. There are a lot of decisions to make in the coming years, including what to do with the next high draft pick in 2022.
2. Who is the future leader of the team?
This is fairly linked to the first part, but it is still relevant as a standalone question. The Magic currently have a large number of young players, all of them mentioned above. It is always tough to answer the question of leadership while the team is rebuilding, but somebody will have to step up and lead this team moving forward.
Anthony is the point guard and the leading scorer for the team this season, so it could wind up being him. But as promising as he looks, it is doubtful whether Anthony can even be a relevant third option on a championship team. He has notable flaws and is not an efficient player at this point in time, so there is still a lot of improvement needed for him to take the leadership mantle.
Other players on the Magic roster are good, but nobody really stands out as somebody with clear leadership qualities. Perhaps Suggs or Wagner step up as they develop, or maybe even Carter if he continues to grow. Could Fultz or Isaac get healthy and take on this role? That feels like a long shot right now.
Orlando is set to add another talented player in the 2022 NBA Draft, with a great chance at the No. 1 pick, so that will be another leadership option in the future. We will have to see if a leader emerges after the All-Star break and moving forward.
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