The Orlando Magic are heading into free agency with a problem that stands out above the rest: they need a veteran point guard or ball-handler, and they do not have much money to chase one.
That reality has shaped the whole offseason so far. Orlando waited 45 picks before making a move at the NBA Draft, then traded away that pick and waited five more selections before taking Izaiyah Nelson.
Sean Sweeney also had to finish the NBA Finals before he could move into his office at the AdventHealth Training Center. Free agency may bring more of the same, because the Magic are working with only the taxpayer mid-level exception of $6.1 million, and they may not even use that.
If that happens, the team will be limited to minimum contracts and will have to wait for players to fall out of the market once the money dries up. Then it becomes a matter of beating out other teams chasing the same bargain-bin help.
Who Orlando lands will say something about how the organization views its roster, but it will also reflect the edge the franchise can sell: the facilities, the coaching, the climate, the locale and everything else that can help sway a player when the paycheck is light.
Still, the roster question is specific. Orlando needs someone who can back up Jalen Suggs and share the floor with Anthony Black.
Point guard has been a lingering issue for the Magic, sometimes handled well by Suggs and sometimes not. During this playoff run, the team has benefited from steadier play from Markelle Fultz and Cory Joseph, even with their flaws.
Last season, Tyus Jones and Jevon Carter filled that spot.
That is the role Orlando has to solve now. The need matters because it can steady the team when injuries hit, and with Suggs and Black, that is a real concern.
The Magic do have other holes. They need more shooting badly, and they could use help at center.
But those problems are easier to patch. Nelson was drafted to help at center, and shooting can turn up in plenty of places, including the G League.
The point guard spot is the harder one to find with limited resources.
That is why free agency opens with Orlando looking through what others have left behind and hoping one player can still make a difference.
A few familiar names keep coming up, mostly because the price tag is now the bigger issue than the fit.
Tyus Jones was on the Magic’s radar for years before they eventually added him last summer, and the idea always made sense in the same way it does now: he is the kind of steady, low-mistake guard Orlando has wanted, even if the defense is a concern and the cost is higher than ideal.
Now the market is different, and the Magic are looking at players who could come cheaper than they ever would have before.
Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons are the names fans have circled for years. Both bring size, scoring and enough shooting to help a guard rotation.
Sexton averaged 15.4 points per game with the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls last season and shot 40.1 percent from three. He has only one season in his career shooting worse than 37 percent from deep.
Simons offers the same kind of shot-making punch. He averaged 14.3 points per game with the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, and shot 38.5 percent from three, though that number dropped to 32.0 percent in six games with the Bulls.
Neither one is really a true point guard, so their value here is tied more to guard scoring and shooting than pure playmaking. Neither was part of a playoff push, either, since both the Hornets and Celtics traded them for playoff pieces. That has to mean something.
Both players would likely want more than the minimum, and both could get offers from rebuilding teams willing to overpay for scoring. That is the challenge for Orlando: sell winning, sell role clarity, and hope that matters more than raw numbers.
If the Magic could land a player capable of putting up 15 points per game on a minimum deal, that would be a major win. Sexton and Simons would both fit that description in a hurry.
The problem is how fast the board thins out after those names.
Dallas Mavericks guard Brandon Williams has drawn interest around the league. He is strong getting to the basket and averaged 13.0 points per game, but he shot just 23.2 percent from three on low volume and is a career 28.0 percent 3-point shooter.
Blake Wesley is another option, though he has never averaged 5.0 points per game and finished last season at 4.8 per game in an injury-filled year with the Portland Trail Blazers. He would be available at the minimum, and Portland suddenly has a surplus of guards.
Cameron Payne and Aaron Holiday are also in the mix as veteran options.
After that, the list gets thin in a hurry. And it is not hard to see why Jevon Carter starts to look more and more appealing as a return option.
This is the kind of summer where Orlando is going to need some luck and a strong sales pitch to find someone who can actually help. That is what makes the team’s lack of activity in the trade market feel so odd. Right now, the Magic are waiting for a player to slip through the cracks, or betting on someone who has not worked out elsewhere.
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