The Orlando Magic’s offseason has been mostly about continuity. After a disappointing finish to the 2025-26 season, they made one notable change by hiring Sean Sweeney as their new head coach, but the roster is largely the same group that left plenty of fans frustrated a year ago.
That means the biggest questions heading into 2026-27 are familiar ones. And if Orlando wants to take a real step forward, these are the holes that still need plugging.
The first issue is the one that never seems to go away: shooting. There are three truths in life, and the Magic needing more of it is clearly one of them.
Last season, Orlando hit just 34.3 percent of its 3-pointers, which put it among the bottom five teams in the league. Only the Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets were worse.
The deeper numbers are even less flattering. According to Cleaning The Glass, which removes garbage-time possessions, the Magic have ranked among the seven worst 3-point shooting teams in seven straight seasons and in nine of the last 10.
That kind of stretch is hard to ignore. Defense can carry a team a long way, but offense still has to show up, and Orlando’s perimeter shooting kept dragging everything down.
Another long-running problem is the lack of a true point guard. Jalen Suggs has become the emotional center of the defense and has improved as a playmaker, but he is not a pure lead guard. Anthony Black isn’t either, and neither is Jevon Carter.
That has left Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner doing a lot of the heavy lifting as the team’s de facto initiators. In a modern league where true point guards are already scarce, Orlando has still been missing someone who can consistently set the table and put its two stars in better positions.
The frontcourt also looks thin behind Goga Bitadze now that Moe Wagner is in Brooklyn. The Magic did add South Florida big Izaiyah Nelson with the No. 51 pick in last month’s draft, but the reigning AAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year is still very slender and projects more as a 4/5 tweener than a ready-made backup center.
Jonathan Isaac remains part of the mix after re-signing, and he has filled in as a small-ball big at times. Over the last three seasons, he has logged 702 combined minutes as a small-ball 5, and the results have been solid with a 7.1 NET. Even so, that look is situational, not something Orlando can lean on every night.
There is also a ballhandling issue tied to the point guard problem. Black is probably headed for a bench role, but he is the only player on the roster who can really create for himself and for others.
Jevon Carter is more of a sometimes 3-and-D guard. Tristan da Silva is versatile, but better off the ball.
Jamal Cain, Isaac, Noah Penda, Nikola Vucevic and Bitadze are not those kinds of creators.
For now, the Magic’s best hope may be internal growth from Jase Richardson, who saw spot duty as a rookie after going No. 25 overall last year. If Sweeney can unlock more of his offensive game as Richardson’s body and skill set continue to develop, that would help. But as things stand, Orlando still has some obvious gaps to close.
In Other News...
Paolo Banchero Just Put Real Pressure On Orlandos Next Step
Paolo Banchero is already setting a higher bar for himself as Orlando heads into the new season, and the timing matters. In a recent interview, the Magic forward talked through his personal goals and the teams bigger picture, making clear that he wants to sharpen his efficiency while taking on even more of the offensive load. He also pointed to the arrival of new head coach Sean Sweeney as part of the backdrop for what comes next, with the sense that Orlandos next step is supposed to be more than incremental.
Bancheros confidence extends beyond his own numbers, too. He sees a conference that can be attacked, and he believes the Magic have enough to make noise in the East if the group comes together the right way. For a team trying to turn promise into something sturdier, that kind of expectation is useful, but it also raises the standard in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Magic Summer League Win Came With One Concerning Development
The Magic kept their Summer League momentum going with a second straight win, but it took a little extra work to do it. Orlando erased a 15-point deficit, forced overtime after tying the game late in regulation and then finished off Portland, 112-105, even while resting second-year players Jase Richardson and Noah Penda after their heavy workloads in the first two games.
Lester Quinones provided the scoring punch with 30 points, giving Orlando another encouraging look at its depth. The bigger concern came when Izaiyah Nelson left early, leaving the Magic to monitor how the frontcourt rotation holds up as the team gets two days off before facing the 76ers. [Read more 🡒]
Magic Rookie Suddenly Faces A Major Camp Setback
Orlandos rookie camp plans took a hit when Izaiyah Nelson went down in a Summer League game, a reminder that even the quietest parts of the offseason can reshape a young players path. For a team trying to sort out its next wave of frontcourt depth, losing a developmental big before the calendar even turns to training camp is the kind of setback that can slow both evaluation and momentum.
Nelson is expected to be sidelined for three to four months, which puts his availability for the start of the season in doubt and leaves the Magic waiting on a player they were hoping to get more looks at soon. For a rookie trying to make an impression, the timing is especially rough, because the next stretch of work is usually where roster battles and early opportunities start to take shape. [Read more 🡒]