Anthony Black already has the kind of highlight that sticks. In Berlin in January, with the game tied and 2.5 minutes left, he took a shaky fast break, burst through the middle of the floor, split a crowd of Grizzlies defenders and finished with a violent dunk that broke the deadlock. Four Memphis players jumped at him, and the play became one of the lasting images of Orlando’s season.
The NBA’s social media accounts later named it the Dunk of the Year, and it fit the larger story of Black’s breakout. He finished last season at 15.0 points per game, the best scoring year of his career, and did a lot of that damage during a 34-game stretch from early December to late February, when he averaged 17.4 points per game and shot 35.6 percent from three. That run came while Orlando was dealing with injuries and often missing a starter-level player from 10 games into the season, making Black’s production a central part of whatever success the team managed to find.
That surge has changed the conversation around him. Black is now headed toward a major contract, whether that comes before the extension deadline or next summer, and he enters the coming season as a critical player for a team with real expectations.
What stood out last season was not just the scoring total, but the shift in his approach. From the start of the year, Black played with a different edge.
He had spent his first two seasons fighting through injuries and looking like a young player still sorting out how to use his talent. This time, he attacked downhill from the jump.
Working with assistant coach God Shamgod over the summer, Black sharpened his handle and improved his ability to get into the paint and finish. He was also, in his own words after the NBA’s Instagram post, still the guy who called it the “lay school,” but the style was less finesse than force. He went at the rim like he wanted to dunk everything.
The numbers back that up. Black had 69 dunks in the 2026 season, according to Basketball-Reference, which was 14 more than he had in his first two years combined.
He was not taking more drives per game than before, but he was clearly playing with more aggression. That showed up in his workload, too: a career-high 12.1 field goal attempts per game and a 22.2 percent usage rate, both career bests.
Orlando leaned on him more than ever.
The finishing numbers changed with it. After shooting 56.0 percent on 3.2 field goal attempts per game within five feet in the 2025 season, Black jumped to 62.6 percent on 4.5 attempts per game within five feet in the 2026 season.
That was a real jump in both volume and efficiency around the basket. It also showed up on the scoreboard, where he reached 20 points or more 19 times last season after doing it just nine times in his first two years.
That’s a big turn for a player who came into the league as the sixth pick and built his early reputation on defense and versatility. Offense was the part that still had to come along. Now, it’s something Orlando expects.
The contract question is still floating out there. Some around the league think Black could push for something similar to Jalen Suggs’ deal, while others expect him to land closer to a contract worth a little more than $20 million per year. Either way, his role is only getting bigger.
At minimum, Black looks like Orlando’s Sixth Man, and he’s already one of the favorites for Sixth Man of the Year. That matters in a league that values depth more and more in the apron era.
It matters even more for a bench that struggled badly last season and finished among the lowest-scoring units in the league because of injuries. If Black gives the Magic a real scoring lift there, it changes the shape of their offense.
He may not be the starter, and the team’s lineups with Black in place of Jalen Suggs or Franz Wagner were rough, but his place in the rotation is secure. The next step is about consistency. He still had rough patches, and a late-season abdominal injury hurt him in the playoffs, where he never really settled in.
Still, last season gave the Magic proof of concept. Black showed what he can be when the aggression is there and the lane opens up. Now the question is whether he can build on it.
That Berlin dunk was more than a viral finish. It was a snapshot of the confidence Black now carries. Orlando needs that version of him again.
In Other News...
Jalen Suggs Is Giving Magic Fans Another Reason To Believe
Jalen Suggs is adding another line to a rsum that already keeps Orlando fans interested, this time far from the practice court in Florida. The Magic guard will serve as a coach at the inaugural Basketball Without Borders Next Up camp in Istanbul from Aug. 26-29, where hell work with 80 of the top male high school prospects in the programs new format, one that blends skill development with competition.
For a team looking to keep building around its young core, it is another reminder of how much development still matters in Orlando. The same conversation naturally circles back to Paolo Banchero and the arrival of new head coach Sean Sweeney, with the franchise hoping those pieces help push the next step after Bancheros uneven but promising season and the challenges that came with it. [Read more 🡒]
Orlandos Starting Five Faces One Pressure Point Around Paolo Banchero
The Magic appear set on continuity heading into the 2026-27 season, and that means the starting five will get another long runway together as the front office keeps leaning into development and familiarity. Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. each bring a different piece to the puzzle, with Bane supplying steady production, Carter doing the dirty work inside and the group as a whole expected to grow together rather than be reworked on the fly.
Even so, the biggest pressure point in that lineup still sits around Banchero, whose shooting efficiency remains a central issue for Orlandos ceiling. Suggs also has to find more offensive consistency, and Wagners mechanics continue to draw attention as part of the larger question of how this starting group unlocks smoother scoring. For a team that wants its current core to become its long-term answer, how those individual fixes take shape could end up mattering as much as any roster move. [Read more 🡒]