Orlando had the second worst record in the league last season but still, there were some positive aspects about them, especially when it comes to the development of their young players. Franz Wagner had a very solid rookie season with 15.2 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game. His all around game is surely going to be valuable for the team going forward. On the other hand, Wendell Carter Jr. had a career season after being the key piece in the trade that saw Nikola Vucevic leaving the team for Chicago.
Mo Bamba also looked unplayable in his first years in the NBA, but he had a surprisingly great last season where he even became a solid 3pts shooter (38.1% on 4.0 attempts per game), while still providing good rim defense. Jalen Suggs immediately showed to be a plus defensive player but the same can’t be said on offense where he struggled during his rookie season (36.1% FG, 21.4% 3pts and 4.4/3.0 A/TO ratio). Finally, Markelle Fultz spent most of the season injured and Cole Anthony took advantage of that to show some good flashes even though he struggled to be a consistent shooter.
Orlando showed signs that they might become a good defensive team in the future as their most used lineup formed by Bamba, Carter, Wagner, Suggs and Anthony only allowed 103.2 points per 100 possessions.
2022/23 Outlook:
Orlando drafted Paolo Banchero with the #1 pick, a player who has the potential to be a high volume scorer, the kind of player this franchise really needs right now. The Magic seem to already have a solid defensive identity which should only get better if Jonathan Isaac returns from his injury that made him miss the last two seasons. Isaac had developed into one of the most underrated defensive players in the league before getting injured and if he can get healthy again, he should help improve the team’s defense. Fultz should on paper be Orlando’s best ball handler but he is injured once again and will miss the start of the season.
In order for Orlando to be more competitive this season, they need to improve their playmaking ability and shooting. The only way this seems possible is if Banchero has a rookie of the year kind of season and even that might not be enough as some of their young players are already struggling to keep themselves healthy and the season hasn’t even started yet…