Offseason Approach

Time to move things forward towards contention

Actual Cap Space

-$67.9 million

Practical Cap Space

-$52.1 million

Projected Luxury Tax Space

-$15.4 million

Under Contract (12)

Cole Anthony
Paolo Banchero
Goga Bitadze
Anthony Black
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Wendell Carter Jr.
Tristan da Silva
Jett Howard
Jonathan Isaac
Jalen Suggs
Ethan Thompson (two-way)
Franz Wagner

View Roster

Potential Free Agents (6)

Gary Harris (unrestricted – team option)
Caleb Houston (restricted – team option)
Cory Joseph (unrestricted – team option)
Mac McClung (restricted – two-way)
Trevelin Queen (restricted – two-way)
Mortiz Wagner (unrestricted – team option)

View Free Agents

Dead Cap (0)

None

Projected Signing Exceptions

Taxpayer MLE ($5.7 million)

Notable Trade Exceptions

None

First Round Draft Picks

#16
#25

Notable Extension Candidates

Cole Anthony (veteran extension – as of October 1)
Paolo Banchero (rookie scale extension)
Caleb Houstan (veteran extension)

Analysis

No better of a source than Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said it was time for the team to take steps forward. After patiently building up over several years, the Magic are fully in win-now mode. That doesn’t mean they’re going to make a blockbuster, all-in type of trade, but expect Orlando to be aggressive in upgrading the roster.

That’s a marked difference from Weltman’s slow-build approach to this point. But it’s time. Orlando is coming off back-to-back playoff appearances, the second one following an injury-marred season. Despite losing in the first round in both postseasons, Orlando pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. It’s time to add to this core group.

However, that’s a lot easier said than done. With extensions kicking in for Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, combined with aggressively re-signing players over the years, Orlando is sitting around the first apron. That’s somewhat limiting in what they can do this summer. But the Magic have ways to free up flexibility to make a big move or two.

Orlando has been more conscientious than most teams to keep team control with the contracts that they sign. Because of that, the Magic have full control with all of their free agents. Orlando holds team options for Moritz Wagner, Gary Harris, Cory Joseph and Caleb Houstan.

Of that group, Wagner is the most likely to return. He should be ready to return from a torn ACL somewhere between the start of the season and Christmas. Wagner has been a key frontcourt reserve for the Magic over the last few seasons. But likely to return is different than Orlando picking up their option. $11 million is a little steep for Wagner. The Magic could decline this option, then work out a longer deal, but at a smaller figure. Something around three years and $24 million would make sense, given Wagner’s importance to the team.

Houstan is fairly easy to project. He’s shown potential for the Magic and he makes right around the veteran minimum. Orlando will likely pick up his option and guarantee his contract for wing depth.

Harris and Joseph are a bit trickier. Harris is still a rotation level guard, while Joseph helped to stabilize the backcourt when he took over as the starting point guard. The issue is that Orlando has Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Anthony Black and Cole Anthony under contract too. That’s a lot of guards to keep on one team.

Don’t expect Mac McClung or Trevelin Queen to return. They’ve run their course on two-way deals with Orlando and will look for more opportunity elsewhere, or could cash in on good deals to play bigger roles overseas.

Another good “problem” for the Magic is that they have two first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft. As you can tell, roster spots are starting to get pretty tight in Orlando. That means that the backcourt depth, plus the incoming draft picks, mean that Harris and Joseph will likely get squeezed out.

As for the rest of the offseason, part of what will decide things for Orlando is where they stand with the aprons. If they take the approach we laid out, the Magic will be about $3.1 million under the first apron. Factoring in that taking on salary in a trade will trigger a first-apron hard cap, that’s important to note.

If Orlando is making a major upgrade, it’ll probably come via trade. That $3.1 million, or something in that range, should give Weltman enough wiggle room to make a deal. The more important part for the Magic is that they have quite a bit of tradable salary to send out in deals.

Jonathan Isaac’s comeback to be a regular in the rotation should be applauded. But the issue for Orlando is that Isaac feels like a bit of a luxury. He can’t really play more than 20 minutes per game and he’s being paid $15 million. That’s a lot for a low-minutes backup, especially if Wagner is back in the fold.

Starting with Isaac’s $15 million salary (or $25 million salary if a trade is swung before the end of the current league year), combined with Anthony (who has become the team’s fourth or fifth guard) and his $13.1 million salary, Orlando can get in range of landing a major upgrade. If the team wanted to put in Caldwell-Pope or Wendell Carter Jr. too, there isn’t a salary they wouldn’t be able to match.

From there, Orlando has plenty of draft capital to plus-up their offers. The Magic own all of their own first-round picks, plus an extra in this year’s draft. They could also offer Black or Jett Howard as young players with potential in deals too.

If the Magic are swinging a big trade or two, there’s a good chance it’ll be an imbalanced deal. That could open up a roster spot for someone like Harris or Joseph to return down the line. There’s also a chance that Orlando knows they want to put Harris and his $7.5 million salary into a deal, which could lead to that option being picked up.

That same is true of having two first-round picks. The Magic could use them in trades or could kick one of them down the road bit, in an attempt to balance out the roster and cap sheet.

It’s hard to piece together exactly how the Magic will approach a trade. It’s safe to say that Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs aren’t going anywhere. Those are the players Orlando will be adding around this summer. Anyone else needs to be on the table in the right deal, and likely will be.

The Magic can’t afford to be too precious with their own guys. That’s how teams get stuck when they go from rebuilding to playoff team to contender. Orlando can continue to be a playoff team without making any changes. If they want to be contenders, they’re going to have to move some of their drafted-and-developed players. As the saying goes: You have to give something to get something.

This is an important offseason for Orlando. Next season Banchero will make $15.3 million on the last season of his rookie scale deal. In 2026-27, that will jump to at least $42.5 million, if not to the 30% max at $51 million. Combine that with Franz Wagner’s max deal and Suggs’ near-max deal, and this is the last offseason the Magic will have much flexibility under the aprons.

This team is ready for more. Banchero and Wagner proved they are ready to pull Orlando up another level, if they have the right pieces around them. This summer is the Magic’s best, and last for a bit, chance to add those right pieces. Jeff Weltman said himself that it’s time to make win-now moves. Now it’s up to him to make them.