Clippers Search For A Real Answer In The Middle Just Got Tense

The Clippers' hopes of landing Orlando's Goga Bitadze face obstacles as the Magic hold firm in trade negotiations amid potential roster shifts.

The Clippers are looking for help in the middle, but Orlando isn’t budging on Goga Bitadze.

Los Angeles has made trade inquiries for the Magic center, according to Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of the Stein Line, but those efforts have been turned away so far. Fischer wrote, “Word is that the Clippers are also among the teams that have expressed trade interest in Orlando's Goga Bitadze.

The Stein Line has since learned, though, that the Magic have rebuffed inquires for the Georgian big man to this point,” Fischer wrote. “It appears that Orlando wants to retain Bitadze in part because it is bracing for the loss of Moritz Wagner, brother of Magic star Franz Wagner, in unrestricted free agency.”

That stance suggests Bitadze is still part of Orlando’s plans as the team moves into a new era under head coach Sean Sweeney. There are expected to be plenty of roster changes ahead, but the Magic do not appear interested in moving their big man.

For the Clippers, the need is obvious. They are searching for center help after dealing Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers, and Bitadze would have fit that need. If Orlando keeps saying no, Los Angeles will have to keep working down the list.

Bitadze just finished a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 5.9 points, five rebounds and a block per game. In 213 games with the Magic, he has averaged six points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks.

Both teams are still sorting out their 2026-27 plans, but for now Bitadze looks set to stay in Orlando.

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