Southeast Notes: Magic, Jaquez, Battier, Hornets

The Magic may be in the market for a play-making guard this summer, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line suggests in a Substack column (subscription required). Fischer reports that Orlando had “real interest” in De’Aaron Fox before Sacramento agreed to trade him to San Antonio in February, although there were never substantial conversations about Fox between the Magic and Kings. Fischer also states that Orlando looked at Malik Monk before he re-signed with Sacramento last summer.

A report emerged over the weekend that the Cavaliers are listening to offers for Darius Garland. However, sources tell Fischer that Cleveland and Orlando haven’t seriously discussed Garland, and the Cavs would be reluctant to help an Eastern Conference rival. Fischer mentions Celtics guard Jrue Holiday as a possibility, along with Fred VanVleet, although he hears that the Rockets intend to keep him on their roster for next season.

Fischer also raises the possibility that the Magic could make smaller trades and decline whatever options are necessary to qualify for the $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception. That could be used to pursue Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, whom Orlando has been identified as a potential suitor for.

In addition, Fischer lists the Magic as a team that could try to move up in the draft for a late lottery selection. Orlando holds picks No. 16 and 25 and already has 15 players on standard contracts for next season, although that could change by declining team options on Moritz Wagner ($11MM) and Gary Harris ($7.5MM).

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

• Second-year Heat forward Jaime Jaquez got a taste of the NBA Finals on Sunday while working as a media member for the league’s digital and social media outlets under the Player Correspondent Program, per Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. “I’m thinking I want to be here, but not as a correspondent,” Jaquez said during a media event. “That’s what I’m thinking, as a player.”
• Former Heat player and executive Shane Battier addressed the end of his playing career and a number of other topics in an appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, relays Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Battier, 46, left the team in 2021 to pursue other interests. “My last year (as a player), when I was told without being told that our best chance of winning doesn’t include you Shane,” Battier recalled. “When (coach Erik Spoelstra) started to sit me in the fourth quarter, nothing was worse to me than sitting me in crunch time because that was my identity.”
• Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer examines recent No. 4 picks to get an idea of what the Hornets can expect with that selection in this year’s draft.