The disastrous season in Orlando

The Orlando Magic are currently 38-34, losers of 6 straight games and sit 10th in the Eastern Conference, though they do play the Kings on the day of this publishing. It was a year in which the Magic came in with high expectations and have just flopped. What has happened and is there potential of some big changes coming?

One of the biggest reasons for Orlando’s struggles this season has been the way the injury bug has bitten them. Franz Wagner has played in just 28 games and Jalen Suggs just 47; those are two of their key players missing significant time during the season. Big losses for a team that was going to rely heavily on those two players but they just have not been available enough. Health has been a problem for Suggs throughout his career, playing in just 35 games last season and 53 games in 2022-23. That is a part of the Jalen Suggs experience. He is a great player but has just not been available enough throughout his career. Wagner had only missed 15 games in his career entering last season but he missed 22 games a season ago and to this point of the season has missed 44 games, only playing in 4 games since December 7th. It has become a lost season for the Magic’s best player and it has cost them greatly.

Yes, Franz Wagner has become Orlando’s best player and that is part of the reason that they have struggled this season. It isn’t that Paolo Banchero has regressed in any way, he just hasn’t progressed in the way Orlando has needed him too. Paolo is an awesome player, averaging 22.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game this season. He is shooting 46% from the field and 51% from two point range, both respectable numbers. The three ball is not there in the way you’d like it to be and that has played a factor in his lack of leap into a superstar, shooting 32% from beyond the arc this season. His defense has also slipped a bit this season, as it has for Orlando’s whole team. Banchero just hasn’t become the player we were hoping he would be by this point. Sure, there is still time and he is a great player but teams don’t respect his three point shot nearly enough. He just does not make teams pay for playing the drive and going under on ball screens. He just doesn’t move the needle in the way I thought he would at this point and that is a problem for the Magic.

One of the biggest reasons the Magic are where they are is because their defense has slipped. According to Cleaning the Glass, last season the Magic had the 2nd best defense in the NBA, only behind the historically great defense of the 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder. Giving up 109.9 points per 100 possessions, it was their bread and butter. Sure, they couldn’t score at all and it cost them in the playoffs but their defense was the reason they got into the playoffs to begin with. This year they have regressed to 15th in the league in defensive rating, giving up 115.1 points per 100 possessions when ‘garbage time’ is filtered out. That is not acceptable. Their offense is better than it was a season ago and that has led to a better winning percentage than they had last season but being this on defense is just not something that can be happening if Orlando wants to ever be a real threat in the Eastern Conference.

This was supposed to be the year for the Orlando Magic, with the big Desmond Bane trade (who has played pretty well this season) and the Celtics and Pacers expected to take steps back (only one of them has), the Magic were supposed to be the biggest beneficiaries of that. They were supposed to win more games than they have, be better on offense and still be that elite defensive team. They just lost to the Pacers, who had not won a single game since the All-Star break before that game, and look like a team that is getting ready for a sad exit in the Play-In Tournament, something the Grizzlies are hoping for since they have the better of the Orlando and Phoenix pick this season. What comes next if they don’t turn it around? Jamahl Mosley getting fired is probably a lock but could they make significant roster changes? Is there a world where Paolo Banchero is not playing for the Magic at the start of next season? That would surprise me but we can't rule it out. This has been the season from hell for the Orlando Magic and in a year where they were supposed to put it together, it amplifies the failures that much more.