After tearing down the iteration of the Magic that featured the likes of Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon, Orlando is finally where it wants to be in the league’s hierarchy, Keith Smith of Spotrac writes. Headlined by Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, the Magic made the playoffs as the No. 5 seed. And while they didn’t necessarily go all in this summer, they added an NBA champion and top tier role player in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Banchero asserted recently that the Magic belonged in conversations regarding the East’s best teams. Assuming he, Wagner, Suggs and others continue to progress in linear fashion, that might be true. As Smith observes, the Magic don’t have a single untradable contract.
On the flip side of things, Orlando is still very young and added first-rounder Tristan Da Silva to a deep-bench young crew that also features Anthony Black and Jett Howard. While they aren’t necessarily on a two-timeline approach since their stars are all in their early 20s, the team continues to have intriguing upside beyond their biggest names.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- With the Heat drafting center Kel’el Ware, it looked like Bam Adebayo might make a more substantial move to the power forward position. However, Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel opines that Adebayo would be content with any opportunity to simply expand his game. Adebayo shot 35.7% on 42 three-point attempts last season and could increase that volume this season.
- In a separate, subscriber-only piece, Winderman ponders whether Ware is ready for or should be deserving of minutes right away after being the Heat’s No. 15 overall pick. Ware averaged 18.3 points and 8.4 rebounds in Summer League, but ultimately Miami will decide when he’s ready for responsibility at the NBA level. In my view, the Heat have done an excellent job in assessing which rookies have been ready to contribute right away. For example, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez quickly established themselves as rotation pieces despite varying levels of college experience. On the other hand, the Heat took a more patient approach to Nikola Jovic‘s insertion into the lineup while he fleshed out his defensive game.
- The Hornets are hiring Ryan Lambert as their director of amateur scouting, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Lambert was previously with the Thunder since 2012, working his way up to a senior amateur evaluation scout position last season.