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The Orlando Magic have made the playoffs two years in a row, but they have lost in the first round round both times. In fact, the Magic have not won an opening round playoff series since the 2009/10 season when they took the Boston Celtics to six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Magic are looking to make it a third straight season, but they have some moves to make in free agency.
Orlando is not losing too many players. They do have some free agents, but the departure of these players is not going to impact the team in a significant way. However, if the Magic want to get out of the first round this upcoming season, they will need to make some improvements to their team.
Orlando has made a few improvements, but there is one that stands out as worse than the rest.
Magic Moves this offseason
The biggest move the Magic made is trading for Desmond Bane. In order to acquire Bane, Orlando gave up Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, four first round picks, and one first round pick swap. That is quite the haul for the Memphis Grizzlies, but the Magic believe Bane can be a true difference maker on the court.
Orlando has also made some signings during free agency. The Magic made the decision to give Paolo Banchero a max contract, while also bringing back Moritz Wagner for a year. In addition, Orlando has signed Tyus Jones to a one-year deal to give the team some backcourt depth.
The only move that has made a real impact is trading for Bane. Still, there could be more moves to make. However, there is one that might be a bit worse than the others.
The Magic gave up too much for Desmond Bane
There is no denying the talent of Desmond Bane. For the Grizzlies last season, Bane averaged 19.2 points per game, 5.3 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals. He averaged over 20 points per game the previous two seasons, and 18.2 points during his sophomore year. The one thing Bane does very well is shoot the three as he has a shooting percentage of 41.0% from beyond the arc in his career.
He is a very good player. The Magic needed someone like Bane to help round out their roster, so there is nobody saying Orlando should not have traded for him. However, he has played more than 69 games just one time in his career. Along with that, he has not made an All-Star team, or won any major awards. Now, that does not mean he is a bad player, but it is worth noting.
Orlando just wanted a playmaker that can shoot the ball. They got that with Bane. The one thing to keep in mind is the money. Bane is making over $36 million this year, over $39 million next year, and over $40 million for two seasons after that. He is the second-highest paid player on the Magic now.
Adding in Banchero next year, the Magic are going to be on the hook for quite a bit of money. They are not leaving themselves a lot of room to make improvements in the future. If they want to make additions, they will have to get rid of some of their players getting paid a bit higher.
Trading for Bane is not a terrible move, but with the financial impact, and what they had to give up, it is the worst move of the offseason for the Magic.
