The calendar has turned to September. You know what that means, right?! Our offseason outlook series is back for the third-straight year!
Hot Hot Hoops senior writer Matt Hanifan will provide his take on the offseasons of all 30 teams for the next 30 days! We will be going in alphabetical order, beginning with the Eastern Conference. Today, we will look at the Orlando Magic’s summer!
Previous offseason outlooks:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics
- Brooklyn Nets
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Detroit Pistons
- Indiana Pacers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- New York Knicks
Evaluating the Orlando Magic’s 2026 offseason:
Additions: Nikola Vucevic
Subtractions: Jett Howard, Moe Wagner
Re-signed: Jevon Carter, Jonathan Isaac
Draft: Izaiyah Nelson (No. 51 overall)
Hanifan’s outlook: You’d be hard-pressed to find a team that had a quieter offseason than the Orlando Magic.
The biggest change was on the sidelines: Orlando fired head coach Jamahl Mosley after blowing a 3-1 lead to the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, and hired San Antonio Spurs assistant (defensive coordinator) Sean Sweeney.
The Magic retained their core, led by Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane, who only played a combined 30 games together last year. They also kept Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black — who remains extension-eligible — and Wendell Carter Jr.
I couldn’t fathom the Jonathan Isaac reunion. The Magic could have waived and stretched the soon-to-be 29-year-old and saved over $13 million. Instead, they kept Isaac’s $8 million dead cap, and re-signed him for the league minimum, shortening their already-thin flexibility.
The Magic’s most recent draft choice, Izaiyah Nelson, is a facsimile of Isaac. Unfortunately, though, Nelson broke his foot in Summer League and could miss the first 1-2 months of the season.
I think the Magic will be healthier this season; it’s difficult to be less healthy than they have been the last several seasons. But they made a sizable bet on their core. If Sweeney can unlock Paolo Banchero and Co. offensively, Orlando will be dangerous.
Grade: C-
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
ORL was #22 in 3P% last year at 34%, league average was 36%. In the playoffs they shot 32.8% vs Detroit. But vs Miami in regular season they shot 38% in 5 wins, most being very close games. Size had much less to do with the close losses than above average unsustainable 3PT shooting, but size was the obvious explanation here.
Miami easily could have been in the first round vs Detroit with play in wins vs Charlotte and Orlando, two of the more overrated teams in the league last year. Orlando lost the last game of the regular season vs a Boston team that had 8 bench players available. Scheierman, Garza and Harper Jr combined for 84 points vs the ORL starters. It’s all on the new coach to fix this team this year.
Orla would beat us lately cause of spo small ball.that shts over with i believe greek is almost 7ft.port one of biggest strongest guys in nba.richards 7 foot.orl got no shot no mo we as big now and we got greek.
Goldin is bigger then anybody, but I doubt he will get a second against Orl.
I think he is the most likely to get swapped out for a different player.
a 6 footer, since Spo likes small ball.
dude has no mobility in nba u will be hunted
exactly. So there is a mobility and length.
Building chemistry on Klay’s boat.
good stuff.
Team!