Anthony Black is heading into a make-or-break stretch with the Orlando Magic.
As the Magic enter the 2026-27 season with real expectations around their top group, they still need more than Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane to carry the load. Black sits right in that next tier of importance, and now the question is whether last season was the start of something bigger or just a one-year spike.
The timing makes it even more urgent. Spotrac lists Black in the final season of the four-year, $32.9 million rookie deal he signed, and this is also the second year Orlando has club control over him. He can land an extension before reaching restricted free agency next season, which puts both his on-court value and his financial future under the microscope.
Black’s production took a clear step forward last season. In 64 games, including 40 starts, he averaged a career-best 15 points. More than the numbers, he showed real growth as a creator after spending time with former assistant coach God Shammgod, with his handle and shot creation looking unlocked at times.
Still, the season wasn’t a straight climb. Injuries and inconsistency interrupted the progress, and the lingering question remains how much teams should believe in the breakout. The sense is that he’s extension-worthy - but the bigger debate is how high that number can go.
On a recent episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast, I said this about what lies ahead for the 22-year-old:
"What is this team going to get from Anthony Black, right? Black enjoyed an exponential jump last season. Got up to 15 points-per-game average, and I would have been curious to see what he would have been able to do if he didn't suffer, I believe it was, that abdominal strain, you know, there towards the second half of the year, February into March.
What would he have been able to achieve if he didn't have to miss a month of basketball? Because there were nights when he looked great, but he was another one that shrunk in the postseason.
Can he be better? Can he show that he's extension-worthy and that he is a legitimate sixth man, night in and night out?"
That’s the heart of it for Orlando. The Magic need Black’s upward trajectory to continue, not just because it would help him personally, but because their bench needs it. Last season, the second unit struggled, and without Black it would have looked even worse.
The offseason addition of Nikola Vucevic should give Orlando a boost in a bench group that was among the NBA’s weakest. But if Black doesn’t keep pushing forward, that upgrade alone won’t change much.
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There is also the softer part of the story, the one fans in Orlando will notice right away. Vucevic has stayed connected to the area and has long shown appreciation for the organization, which gives this signing a little more meaning than a standard roster move. The Magic get help where they need it, and they also get a player whose return should bring an immediate reminder of a different era in franchise history. [Read more 🡒]
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Magic Quiet Offseason Puts Real Pressure On This Start
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What makes the early stretch so important is that the noise around a slow start should stay measured unless the team looks flat or unresponsive to coaching. The bigger test is not whether Orlando wins every game in October and November, but whether it can get to the playoffs and finally turn that into a series win, which is the real benchmark for judging where this core is headed. [Read more 🡒]