The Orlando Magic’s next big push is already taking shape around a handful of players who look built to last.
With a 2026-27 season that figures to bring a tougher Eastern Conference and new head coach Sean Sweeney, Orlando’s path forward starts with identifying who belongs in the long-term plan. The answer begins with Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane and Anthony Black, with Jalen Suggs still part of the conversation.
Banchero is the easiest place to start. He has done what every team wants from its leading scorer: show up.
In his career, he has played 72 regular-season games in 2022-23, 80 in 2023-24 and 72 in 2025-26. That kind of availability matters when a team is trying to build something stable.
The production has matched the reliability. Banchero’s career regular-season numbers sit at 22.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, a profile that covers scoring, rebounding and playmaking.
He has also taken it up another level when the games get bigger. In the postseason, he has averaged 27.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game, all higher than his regular-season marks.
Desmond Bane made a strong first impression in Orlando. In the 2025-26 regular season, he put up 20.1 points per game while shooting 48.4% from the field and 39.1% from 3-point range. He also did something teams love even more than efficiency: he was there every night, starting all 82 games.
That kind of shooting is a major piece for a Magic team that struggled from beyond the arc last season. Bane’s track record suggests the first year in Orlando was not a one-off, either. His career regular-season averages are 18.3 points per game on 47.5% shooting from the field and 40.7% from three.
Anthony Black took a clear step forward in year three. He averaged 15 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the regular season, and he appeared in 64 games with 40 starts, the most starts of his career. If that level holds or keeps climbing, Black fits the profile of a player Orlando would want to keep around for the long haul.
Jalen Suggs complicates that picture a bit. He has not been especially available in the regular season, having played in over 60 games only once in his career. For a team trying to solidify itself in the East, that matters.
Still, Suggs had a productive 2025-26 regular season, averaging a career-high 5.5 assists per game to go with 13.8 points. If he can keep blending scoring and playmaking, and push the assists even higher, that would only strengthen his case in Orlando.
Black’s rise makes this even more interesting. If he keeps building on what he did in 2025-26, his value is hard to ignore.
The same goes for Suggs, especially if both guards can clean up their shooting from deep. Black is a career 33.8% shooter from 3-point range in the regular season, while Suggs sits at 33.1%.
In Other News...
Magic Enter Camp With A Rotation Crunch Sean Sweeney Must Solve
Sean Sweeney steps into camp with continuity working in his favor and a few lineup puzzles still hanging in the air. The Magic brought back most of last seasons group, added rookie Izaiyah Nelson and re-signed Nikola Vucevic, so the core is largely intact even as the coaching change from Jamahl Mosley gives the room a new voice. Orlando also moved on without Jett Howard and Moritz Wagner, which leaves just enough turnover to make the coming preseason feel like a sorting exercise rather than a full reset.
For Sweeney, the real challenge is less about remaking the roster than figuring out how all the pieces fit. Several positional and rotation questions remain unresolved, and the answers figure to hinge on who is healthy, who performs best in camp and which combinations work against different matchups. In a league where depth can become a strength only if the rotations are clean, the Magic enter camp with more stability than uncertainty, but still enough of both to keep the decisions interesting. [Read more 🡒]
Magic Suddenly Face Bigger Questions About Their All In Gamble
The Magic entered last summer with clear intent, making a major trade for Desmond Bane in hopes of lifting an offense that needed a real jolt. Instead, the combination of injuries and a disappointing season has sent the conversation in the other direction, with ESPNs future power rankings dropping Orlando from seventh to 22nd and raising fresh doubts about how sturdy the roster looks around its core.
What was supposed to be a confident all-in swing now comes with heavier questions about the front offices read on the teams timeline and upside. With payroll constraints already part of the picture, Orlando has to sort through not just what went wrong, but whether the current foundation can still support the kind of competitive rise the franchise had in mind. [Read more 🡒]
Paolo Banchero May Be Building The Next Step Magic Fans Need
Paolo Banchero spent his offseason working on the parts of his game that can change the shape of the Magics attack, with a clear emphasis on shot creation, shotmaking and finishing. The work has included sessions with Kevin Durant, a useful sign for a young scorer trying to sharpen the details that separate a good offensive engine from a great one.
Orlando also enters the season with a new head coach in Sean Sweeney, and that matters because Bancheros next leap is likely to come not just from more skill work, but from better usage. He wants to become more efficient and more complete, and the Magic have a fresh voice in place to help optimize the role around him as he looks to take a significant step forward. [Read more 🡒]