The Orlando Magic enter this offseason carrying more skepticism than buzz, but the team itself sounds like it’s working with a different kind of energy. Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane and Paolo Banchero have all made clear they’re not satisfied with how last season went, and that frustration is showing up in the work already underway.
Wagner was in Los Angeles this week with Banchero, Jevon Carter, Jamal Cain and Jase Richardson for the Rico Hynes pick-up runs. Desmond Bane and Nikola Vucevic are also supposedly there, while Noah Penda said on his Instagram story that everyone is eager to get back to work. For a group that largely kept quiet after the season ended, the message has been consistent: last year didn’t sit right.
It’s easy to see why. Orlando’s season was interrupted early by injuries, uneven play and enough internal noise to force change on the bench.
Sean Sweeney is in as the new coach, but the roster remains mostly intact, which puts the spotlight squarely on the group already in place. The pressure is obvious.
So is the uncertainty.
Oddsmakers don’t seem especially convinced. The Magic are being pegged for the Play-In Tournament again, with some books even sliding them toward ninth in a stronger Eastern Conference. Their over/under sits at 43.5 in most places, a number that feels conservative for a team that still won 45 games despite all the problems in front of it.
"They were a 45-win team last year with Franz missing more than half the season due to injuries," Tim MacMahon said on The Hoop Collective. "It was a pretty toxic situation for whatever reason with Paolo in particular with Jamahl Mosley.
That relationship deteriorated. None of us were surprised that they moved on from Jamahl Mosley.
I don't think they are way over. But I do think they are over 43.5, and I think they are right in that 45+ range that they have been occupying."
That’s the tension with Orlando. The results were messy, but the record still kept them in the mix. The question now is whether that was the floor or the ceiling.
Franz Wagner’s season was cut to 34 games, but when he was on the floor, the Magic went 20-14, a 48-win pace. They also went 3-1 in the Playoffs against a 60-win, top-seeded Detroit Pistons team.
Paolo Banchero put up career numbers in several areas, even if the jumper wasn’t consistent and the outside criticism around his impact numbers never really went away. Jalen Suggs battled injuries and inconsistency.
Bane started slowly before settling in.
The team also dealt with rumors and reports of tension with Jamahl Mosley that rose and fell depending on results. Eventually, Orlando made the move to Sean Sweeney. The organization still believes the version of the team it wanted to see was never fully available because of all the interruptions.
Even with that belief, there’s no escaping the fact that the same roster is back after a disappointing 45-win year. That’s why some of the outside confidence is muted.
Orlando kept having chances to climb the standings and kept falling short, including a rough stretch in March that saw the team follow a seven-game winning streak with six straight losses. The Magic also spent about a month trading wins and losses back and forth.
And yet the number still landed at 45.
There were moments that could have changed the entire feel of the season, too. Losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers during that March skid stood out, and so did the regular-season finale against an undermanned Boston Celtics team.
Flip a few of those, and the conversation around Orlando looks different. As it stands, the Magic can reasonably point to themselves as a 48-win team that left a little too much on the table.
That’s where the hope comes from. Orlando believes its best starting group was hidden by the injuries and instability, and that the team still hasn’t shown its true ceiling. The problem is that no one else has much to work with beyond two injury-riddled seasons.
There’s still a case to be made that this team is being underrated. The Magic have talent, upside and a new voice on the bench. They’re also trying to answer the same questions that have hovered over them for two years now: how good can this group really be, and can it finally deliver when it matters?
For now, the league seems content to keep Orlando in the background. The Magic, though, are acting like they’ve got something to prove.
In Other News...
Desmond Bane Sees One Early Sign From Orlandos New Coach
Desmond Bane already has a read on Sean Sweeney, and it starts with something that happened well before the season tipped off. The Magic guard said he was encouraged by Sweeneys approach to building relationships with players, pointing to the new head coachs offseason trip to Texas, where several teammates were training together.
For Orlando, that kind of early buy-in matters as much as any schematic tweak. Sweeney brings a track record that includes helping coach the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals, and the hope inside the organization is that he can help the core group take another step in the postseason. The first chance to see how that partnership looks in a real game comes October 21, when the Magic open the 2026-27 season against the Atlanta Hawks. [Read more 🡒]
Desmond Bane Just Raised Expectations For This Magic Core
Desmond Bane has already helped raise the temperature around Orlando before playing a regular-season game for the Magic. The veteran guard said the group has the talent to contend in the Eastern Conference in 2026-27, pointing to the rosters buy-in to new head coach Sean Sweeneys system as a sign that this is more than just a hopeful offseason talking point. Orlandos recent baseline gives that belief some shape, too, after a 45-37 finish and a first-round playoff trip last season.
Horace Grant also sees a team that belongs in the East conversation, though he framed the next step in the familiar terms that usually decide whether a promising roster actually turns into a threat. Health and chemistry remain the obvious pressure points, and those are the kinds of details that tend to matter once the games start coming fast. The Magic open the new season against the Hawks on Oct. 21, which should offer the first real look at whether this upgraded confidence is matching what happens on the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Magic Offseason Moves Are Already Turning Up The Heat On Minutes
The offseason reshuffle in Orlando has already changed the look of the rotation before the games even count. Gregg Sweeney, promoted from lead assistant to head coach after Jamahl Mosleys departure, inherits a roster with some familiar pieces and a few fresh complications, especially in the frontcourt and on the wing. Wendell Carter Jr. is expected to start ahead of returning veteran Nikola Vucevic, a move that signals the Magic are leaning toward a different balance as they head into the new season.
The back end of the roster may be just as crowded. Restricted free agent Jalen Black is still part of the conversation, and Jevon Carters return adds another guard to a group that already has several players vying for minutes. For 2025 draft pick Jase Richardson, that can only make the path to playing time tighter, which gives Orlando a real early test in figuring out how much youth it can realistically fit around its more established options. [Read more 🡒]