Goga Bitadze keeps flashing the same promise, and the Orlando Magic keep waiting for it to turn into something bigger.
On Friday in Georgia’s World Cup qualifying win over Montenegro, Bitadze gave a little reminder of why he keeps drawing attention. Early in the first quarter, he trailed the break, drifted to the 3-point line and buried the shot. The broadcast line fit him perfectly: "big men shoot threes in FIBA!"
That kind of moment is exactly what has made Bitadze interesting for so long. A year ago at Eurobasket, he hinted at an expanded game by knocking down eight of 22 from deep during Georgia’s surprising quarterfinal run. It suggested a new layer might finally be coming.
The rest of his profile, though, is still the familiar one. Bitadze is a shot blocker.
He protects the rim. He rebounds.
He finishes around the basket. He lives on lobs and dump-offs.
Against Montenegro, he showed all of that in a 23-point, eight-rebound outing in a 101-74 win. But in the July qualifying window, the numbers were much quieter: eight points and 11 rebounds against Ukraine, then four points and five rebounds against Spain.
That split has defined a lot of his Orlando tenure, too.
The Magic signed Bitadze to a minimum deal in the 2023 season, and he quickly proved he could help as a rim protector. He took another step in the 2024 season when injuries pushed him into the starting lineup for Wendell Carter, and he handled those minutes well. Still, the larger breakthrough never quite arrived.
Last season, Bitadze averaged 5.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 block in 15.2 minutes per game, basically matching the role he had in 2024. Per 36 minutes, he posted 13.9 points and 11.9 rebounds, his best per-36 numbers with the Magic. That’s the tricky part with Bitadze: when he gets run, the production follows.
What hasn’t followed is the kind of all-around growth that would lock in a bigger role.
His defense remains the calling card. Last year, Bitadze posted a team-best 52.1 percent defensive field goal percentage at the rim, even better than Jonathan Isaac’s 53.0 percent, which ranked second on the team.
That matters. Orlando does not have another big who gives them that same kind of rim protection, and Bitadze has earned a spot in the mix because of it.
But the Magic have wanted more. They’ve needed more.
Bitadze has been useful as a third center because he screens hard, rolls with force and can finish above the rim. He gives the team vertical spacing even without a consistent 3-point shot.
He can clean up the glass on offense and defend the paint on the other end. That’s a real player.
He just hasn’t put all of it together.
He can get emotional. He can chase blocks and drift out of position.
He has had trouble fitting the versatility Orlando asks for in Jamahl Mosley’s defensive scheme, especially because he does not switch onto the perimeter well. And the outside shot that looked so tempting in FIBA has not translated for him in the NBA, where he took just 11 threes last season and made two.
The playoffs exposed that gap. Bitadze averaged only 13.8 minutes and 2.8 points per game.
Orlando still posted a 111.0 defensive rating with him on the floor during the regular season, one of its best marks. In the playoffs, that number improved to 94.2.
But the offense was the issue, and the Detroit Pistons were able to ignore him and crowd the paint.
Now the competition gets tighter again. Nikola Vucevic, who retired from FIBA play in the July qualifying window and did not play for Montenegro on Friday, is in the fold and is favored for the backup center role because Orlando needs his shooting and spacing. That leaves Bitadze where he’s been before: waiting for his chances, likely as an injury fill-in, even though he has shown enough to deserve real trust.
He is entering the final year of his contract, so the pressure is there for him to show he can be more than the guy who steps in when needed. He has always produced when called upon. The question is whether that production can become something lasting.
Training camp will help sort that out, and Sean Sweeney will have his own ideas about what he wants from the center spot. For now, Bitadze looks like he’s headed into the same role again.
The talent is there. The production appears when the minutes do. What remains is the bigger leap.
In Other News...
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The first major stage arrives quickly, with an Oct. 11 home date against Cleveland on ESPN and a Dec. 14 home game against Philadelphia on Peacock among the early spotlight games. Those are the sorts of nights that can shape how a team is discussed beyond its own market, especially for a group still trying to turn promise into proof. Orlando has spent the offseason with attention on its core talent, and this schedule gives the Magic plenty of chances to answer a simple question: are they just one of the leagues most interesting young teams, or one ready to force a broader change in perception? [Read more 🡒]
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For a team trying to build momentum under a new coach, the concern is not just who is on the schedule, but how the group holds up through it. Health will matter, of course, but so will the way Sweeney manages minutes, travel and recovery during a stretch that could shape the tone of the season long before the games become easier. [Read more 🡒]
Penny Just Reopened The Magic What-If Fans Never Got Over
For Magic fans, the old ache around the Shaquille ONeal breakup never really went away, and Penny Hardaway just put it back in the spotlight. Hardaway recently looked back on the moment he found out ONeal was leaving Orlando for the Lakers, describing it as devastating and making clear that the news hit without any warning from his teammate.
It remains one of the defining what-ifs in franchise history because the move changed everything in a hurry. ONeal went on to win three straight titles in Los Angeles, while Hardaways own career ended without the championship that once felt possible in Orlando, leaving the Magic to live with how different that era might have been. [Read more 🡒]