Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Trade Rumors: Celtics, Durant, Knicks, Pelicans, Spurs, Magic

June 12th, 2025 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics won’t be actively looking to move Jaylen Brown or Derrick White this offseason, but they also don’t necessarily view either player as untouchable, ESPN’s Shams Charania said on Wednesday during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show (YouTube link).

“The primary focus, from my understanding, with the Celtics’ offseason has been Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, (and) Sam Hauser, their trade markets,” Charania said. “Now, are teams making big offers and calling about Jaylen Brown and Derrick White? 100 percent. The Celtics prefer not to trade them, from my understanding. But if they get a big offer, they have to look at everything.”

Asked by McAfee if it’s accurate to say that everyone except Jayson Tatum, who will spent most or all of the 2025/26 season recovering from an Achilles tear, is theoretically in play, Charania replied, “Essentially.”

As has been reported repeatedly since Boston was eliminated from the playoffs last month, the club will be looking to reduce its luxury tax bill and get below the second tax apron in 2025/26, since Tatum’s injury figures to significantly reduce the odds of the Celtics seriously contending for another title next season.

Here are a few more trade-related rumors from around the NBA:

Brian Windhorst said during a Thursday appearance on ESPN’s Get Up (YouTube link) that he thinks Kevin Durant “definitely” has interest in the Knicks as a potential landing spot. However, after Stefan Bondy of The New York Post reported on Wednesday that the Knicks aren’t expected to pursue Durant, Steve Popper of Newsday has echoed that report, citing a league source who says New York isn’t interested in making a deal for the star forward.
Within his latest mock draft, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports says league sources continue to mention the Pelicans as a team with interest in moving up in the draft. According to O’Connor, multiple front office executives believe New Orleans, which controls the No. 7 overall pick, has interest in Rutgers’ Ace Bailey, who could be picked as early as No. 3, so Yahoo’s latest mock include a hypothetical trade between the Pelicans and Sixers.
The latest mock draft from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic also includes some sourced information related to potential trade scenarios. According to Vecenie, league sources believe the Spurs could move their No. 14 overall pick if a preferred target isn’t on the board and think the Magic will explore using at least one of their two first-rounders in a trade for offensive help.

Celtics Eyeing Point Guard Prospects, Evaluating Trade-Up Scenarios

June 11th, 2025 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics are doing their due diligence on point guard prospects ahead of the 2025 NBA draft, as well as evaluating potential trade-up scenarios, league sources tell Grant Afseth of RG.org.

Boston currently controls the No. 28 pick in the first round and the No. 32 pick in the second round, giving the team some ammunition to potentially move up a few spots if there’s a specific prospect the front office likes in that range.

Of course, the ability to draft a player with that No. 32 pick and sign him to a rookie-minimum salary would benefit the cap-strapped Celtics as they look to reduce their payroll, so the club would have to weigh its options carefully if it considers a move up — packaging the No. 28 selection with a future pick or two while hanging onto No. 32 could also be an option, though that’s just my speculation.

As Afseth writes, the Celtics have “quietly evaluated” a number of point guards in this year’s draft class, conducting background work on those prospects and making an effort to bring them in for workouts. Adding a “rotation-level” guard on a rookie scale contract is viewed as a priority for a team that operated over the second tax apron this past season, Afseth adds, especially with Jrue Holiday considered a prime offseason trade candidate.

Among this year’s draft-eligible point guards, Dylan Harper, Jeremiah Fears, Kasparas Jakucionis, and Egor Demin are viewed as probable lottery picks. Nolan Traore is at No. 25 on ESPN’s big board, with Walter Clayton Jr. at No. 27 and Ben Saraf at No. 30. For what it’s worth, Traore was once considered a potential top-10 pick and was still in the lottery in ESPN’s mock drafts as of mid-March, but has fallen in the rankings this spring.

According to Afseth, Boston is one of a few teams with multiple picks in the first round or early second who are exploring the idea of trading up. The Thunder (Nos. 15, 24, and 44), Magic (Nos. 16, 25, 46, and 57), and Nets (Nos. 8, 19, 26, 27, and 36) are also “viewed as active in that market,” sources tell RG.org.

2025 NBA Offseason Preview: Orlando Magic

June 10th, 2025 at 8:33pm CST by Rory Maher

From the 2012/13 season through 2021/22, the Magic were one of the worst teams in the NBA. They finished well below .500 in nine of those 10 years, and went just 42-40 in their one winning season ('18/19) during that decade-long stretch.

The Magic committed to a rebuild in '20/21 after being stuck in mediocrity for a few years, trading away Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, and Evan Fournier. Orlando shrewdly drafted Franz Wagner eighth overall in 2021 with one of the picks it acquired for Vucevic, then got lucky in 2022, winning the draft lottery and selecting Paolo Banchero.

After going just 22-60 the year before Banchero was selected, Orlando made significant strides during his first two seasons, winning 34 games in his rookie campaign and compiling a 47-35 record and making the playoffs in '23/24. The team eventually lost its highly competitive first-round series vs. Cleveland in seven games.

Given their talented young core, seemingly college-like off-court chemistry, and a rock-solid defense, there was an expectation that the Magic would continue to improve again in '24/25. But that didn’t happen, as they finished 41-41 and had to advance through the play-in tournament to secure the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Orlando again lost in the first round, this time to the defending champion Celtics in five games.

There were a number of reasons why the Magic took a minor step back this season, with the most obvious being injuries to their best players. Banchero, Wagner and Suggs account for a huge chunk of the team’s offense, but the trio was limited to a combined 141 appearances and suited up together just six times. On top of that, Orlando's fourth-leading scorer, reserve big man Moritz Wagner, only played in 30 games due to a torn ACL.

The Magic actually had a strong run in the first third of '24/25 even after losing Banchero to a torn abdominal muscle in their fifth game, going 17-9 with Franz Wagner looking like a strong early contender to earn his first All-Star and All-NBA nods. Unfortunately, he sustained the same injury as Banchero in December, with older brother Moritz going down later that month as well.

While injuries were undoubtedly a major factor Orlando's .500 record, the end result was still disappointing.

Key offseason signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was unable to build much chemistry with his new teammates and had an underwhelming first season with the Magic. Role players like Wendell Carter, Jonathan Isaac and Cole Anthony took steps back. Second-year guard Jett Howard continued to receive sporadic minutes and largely struggled when he was on the court, despite being a late lottery pick -- 11th overall -- a couple years ago (he was selected with the second first-rounder the Magic received in the Vucevic deal).

Veteran guard Cory Joseph and rookie forward Tristan da Silva were forced into bigger roles than expected due to injuries, and while they acquitted themselves fairly well given the circumstances, it certainly wasn't something the team had planned for. Overall, things were a bit of mess, particularly on the offensive end.

But there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the Magic’s future, especially if the front office is able to find the right combination of talent to surround their top players over the next several months. There’s a strong foundation in place in Orlando, which has a legitimate chance to be a contender in a depleted East next season with better luck and a few changes to balance out the roster.

The Magic's Offseason Plan

The first order of business for the Magic this summer is signing Banchero to a rookie scale extension. There’s really no drama with that decision — I fully expect him to get a five-year max deal with Rose rule language that could increase the value from 25% to 30% of the '26/27 salary cap if he meets certain performance criteria next season.

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Southeast Notes: Magic, Jaquez, Battier, Hornets

June 9th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

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.

Southeast Notes: Young, Hornets, Magic, K. Johnson

June 6th, 2025 at 12:38pm CST by Luke Adams

A native of Norman, Oklahoma who played his college ball for the Sooners, Trae Young has some affinity for the local NBA team. However, while the Hawks guard will be rooting for the Thunder in the NBA Finals, he tells Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that seeing Oklahoma City make a serious run at a title really just makes him more determined to take his own team to those same heights.

“It’s even more motivating for me,” Young said on Wednesday at a sponsor event. “I want to win a championship bad. But the fact that it’s in my city and I’m just watching it now, if you thought I wanted it bad before, it’s even worse now. … Hopefully we’re here playing the Thunder next year, and I’m not having this (event) here in OKC. So, we have this party there in Atlanta. I love Atlanta.”

The Hawks have missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and haven’t won more than 43 games in a season since Young was drafted in 2018, but the star guard remains optimistic about the franchise’s direction.

“We had the No. 1 pick (Zaccharie Risacher) last year that made strides and almost won Rookie of the Year, got second,” Young said. “We have a lot of young, young, really good players. We have a great coach. We have a lot of stuff, and we have a big summer ahead, for sure.”

We have more from around the Southeast:

Dylan Cardwell (Auburn), Steven Crowl (Wisconsin), Chucky Hepburn (Louisville), and Jalon Moore (Oklahoma) visited the Hornets for a pre-draft workout earlier this week, while Obinna Anochili-Killen (Marshall), Eric Dixon (Villanova), Kobe Johnson (UCLA), and Julian Reese (Maryland) auditioned for the team on Thursday, reports Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter links). Charlotte controls the fourth, 33rd, and 34th overall picks in this year’s draft. Among those prospects, Dixon is the highest-rated on ESPN’s big board at No. 45.
Keith Smith of Spotrac and Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) both previewed the Magic‘s offseason this week, discussing Paolo Banchero‘s upcoming rookie scale extension, looking at Orlando’s rising payroll, and considering how the team might use its multiple first-round picks (No. 16 and No. 25) in this year’s draft.
Although he played limited minutes in just 16 NBA games as a rookie in 2024/25, Heat forward Keshad Johnson feels he has “grown mentally” since entering the league, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. “I’ve learned a lot about basketball, Xs and Os,” said Johnson, who played well for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League. “Just being in the NBA, at first it started off fast. But it started to slow down as time got going. Just getting comfortable. Skill-wise, I feel like the mental aspect of learning cheat codes and things like that.” The Heat hold a minimum-salary team option on Johnson for the 2025/26 season and must exercise or decline that option by June 29.

Eastern Notes: Giannis, Nets, Raptors, Spoelstra, Pistons, Magic

June 5th, 2025 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

Team personnel around the NBA who have spoken recently to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required) are expressing less confidence that Giannis Antetokounmpo will ask the Bucks to trade him this summer.

“He’s not that guy (to cause trouble),” one source told Lewis. “He’s going to complain, but he isn’t going to actually burn it to the ground and be the bad guy to leave.”

As Lewis details, it’s perhaps no coincidence that rumors about the Nets‘ interest in pursuing a second lottery pick have gained some traction lately, since that’s viewed as a more realistic move for Brooklyn than landing Antetokounmpo. Even if the Bucks star does become available, the Nets have fallen behind teams like San Antonio, Houston, and Toronto as betting favorites to land him, Lewis notes.

“Toronto has more than anyone to offer for Giannis,” one league source told The Post. “But I don’t think he’s being moved.”

If Giannis were available, the Raptors could make a strong bid for him by including former Rookie of the Year and All-Star Scottie Barnes in their package. Still, it’s debatable whether such a move would make sense for Toronto, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, who notes that paying a significant price (Barnes, plus other players and picks) for Antetokounmpo wouldn’t necessarily put the Raptors in a better position to contend than recent iterations of the Bucks.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Since we published our most recent list of the NBA’s longest-tenured head coaches last August, four of the top six names on that list (Gregg Popovich, Michael Malone, Taylor Jenkins, and Tom Thibodeau) have been let go or, in Popovich’s case, stepped down. That leaves Erik Spoelstra of the Heat as the league’s longest-tenured head coach by a significant margin, and he doesn’t take that longevity for granted, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald details. “You have to have great ownership and stability from the front office,” Spoelstra said during the season. “… I’m truly grateful for that, because we’ve been able to work through some tough losses and tough seasons and I think we’ve gotten better from that.”
Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required) considers how the Pistons might be able to leverage certain teams’ cap and apron positions this offseason by pursuing players from those clubs. Sankofa identifies Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Grayson Allen, Isaac Okoro, and Sam Hauser as four wings whom Detroit could target in free agency or trades. Minnesota, Phoenix, and Boston are coming off second-apron seasons, while Cleveland is on track to exceed the second apron in 2025/26.
The Magic unveiled a new logo and three new uniforms earlier this week, per a team press release. Orlando’s updated look can be found here.

Scotto’s Latest: Porzingis, Celtics, Reid, NAW, Magic, Kings

June 4th, 2025 at 8:12am CST by Luke Adams

Executives around the NBA generally view Kristaps Porzingis as the Celtics‘ top trade candidate this offseason as the team looks to reduce its salary, says Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Porzingis has played a limited role during Boston’s last two playoff runs due to health issues and will be on an expiring $30.7MM contract in 2025/26.

However, the general consensus is that the Celtics won’t be looking to trade just one highly paid player.

“Boston needs to get off two big salaries at least, or they’ll have massive tax implications,” one NBA executive told HoopsHype. “(Jayson) Tatum‘s injury lets them use next year as a gap year to audition other players or young guys.”

While Derrick White has drawn consistent interest from teams across the league, per Scotto, the Celtics have always rebuffed those inquiries in the past and would presumably be more inclined to shop Jrue Holiday if they move off one of their veteran guards.

Reserve wing Sam Hauser is also considered a trade candidate by rival NBA executives, according to Scotto, who notes that 2024 first-rounder Baylor Scheierman is viewed by talent evaluators as a player who could take on Hauser’s role sooner or later.

Here’s more from Scotto:

Re-signing Naz Reid is considered a top priority for the Timberwolves, but executives around the NBA believe Minnesota is unlikely to retain Reid, Julius Randle, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who are all eligible for free agency this offseason.
The Magic, who were recently identified as a possible suitor for Alexander-Walker, made a play for the Timberwolves guard at February’s trade deadline, according to Scotto, who says many executives are projecting the 26-year-old to receive the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception or something close to it.
Rival executives are monitoring the Kings‘ veteran trio of Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan, and believe the team will explore trading one or more of those players either this offseason or by the 2026 trade deadline, Scotto writes. It might take a trade request for Sacramento to seriously consider dealing Sabonis, and LaVine’s maximum-salary contract figures to be difficult to move. That leaves DeRozan and perhaps center Jonas Valanciunas, who will be on a pseudo-expiring $10.4MM contract, as the Kings’ top potential trade candidates.
In case you missed it, we also passed along reporting from Scotto on a potential point guard target for the Kings, along with a handful of Clippers-related rumors.

Magic Viewed As Possible Suitor For Nickeil Alexander-Walker

May 31st, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

There are “rumbles in circulation” that the Magic are a team to watch as a suitor for free agent guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker this offseason, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Alexander-Walker, who was traded from Utah to Minnesota at the 2023 deadline as part of a bigger three-team deal, has emerged as a reliable rotation player for the Timberwolves over the past two seasons.

Since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, the 26-year-old has averaged 8.7 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per game, with a .438/.386/.787 shooting line. He has also served as one of Minnesota’s top point-of-attack defenders and has been extremely durable, having not missed a game in over two years.

While the Timberwolves would certainly like to have Alexander-Walker back on the roster next season, they may face a financial squeeze after operating above the second tax apron this year, which could open the door for rival suitors to make a run at him.

The six-year veteran is coming off a $4.3MM salary and has never earned more than $5MM in a season, but appears to be in line for a significant raise. Several teams with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14.1MM) figure to have interest, and Jake Fischer reported in February that some executives believe Alexander-Walker could earn up to $20MM per year on his next contract.

Whether the Magic will be in position to make an aggressive offer to Alexander-Walker remains to be seen. They have roughly $175MM in guaranteed money committed to 11 players for next season and the luxury tax line projects to come in just under $188MM, so if they want to make a play for the Wolves guard while staying out of the tax, they’d probably have to shed some salary.

Orlando has long been viewed as a team likely to seek backcourt help this summer, though much of that speculation has centered around the Magic targeting more of an offensive-minded player to complement defensive ace Jalen Suggs. While Alexander-Walker doesn’t really fit that bill, he has been a more reliable three-point shooter than Suggs in recent years.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Named Western Conference Finals MVP

May 29th, 2025 at 10:13am CST by Luke Adams

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was unanimously named the Most Valuable Player of the Western Conference Finals following Wednesday’s series win over Minnesota, earning all nine votes from a panel of media members (Twitter link).

Gilgeous-Alexander, who was also the NBA’s regular season MVP for 2024/25, averaged 31.4 points, 8.2 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 36.4 minutes per game across five games vs. the Timberwolves.

While his 45.7% field goal percentage and 31.8% mark on three-pointers were both well below his usual rates, the 26-year-old was the engine of Oklahoma City’s offense and was a +43 during his 182 minutes of action in the third-round series.

Jalen Williams (22.2 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, 2.0 SPG, .494/.462/.833 shooting) and Chet Holmgren (18.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.6 BPG, .567/.368/.714 shooting) also had big series for the Thunder, fueling a dominant all-around performance that sends the franchise to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2012.

The conference final MVP is a relatively new award, having been introduced by the league in 2022. Stephen Curry won the inaugural award in 2022, followed by Nikola Jokic in 2023 and Luka Doncic in 2024.

The player who is named the Western Finals MVP receives the Magic Johnson trophy.

Cade Cunningham Earns Salary Bump With All-NBA Nod

May 23rd, 2025 at 6:20pm CST by Luke Adams

As a result of earning a spot on the All-NBA Third Team on Friday, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham will see the value of the five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension he signed last summer increase by a projected total of nearly $45MM.

Cunningham’s contract included Rose Rule language. The Rose Rule allow players coming off their rookie scale contracts to receive salaries worth more than 25% of the cap in year five if they make an All-NBA team during the season (or two of the three seasons) before their extension goes into effect. Players can also qualify by being named Most Valuable Player or Defensive Player of the Year.

Cunningham’s 2025/26 salary will now be worth 30% of the cap instead of 25%. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projections, that means his five-year deal will be worth $269,085,780 instead of $224,238,150.

Cunningham was one of four players to sign a rookie scale extension that included Rose Rule language last summer. Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, who was named to the All-NBA Second Team on Friday, had already earned a bump to 30% as a result of winning the Defensive Player of the Year award. His five-year deal will look identical to Cunningham’s.

The other two players who signed Rose Rule rookie scale extensions – Magic forward Franz Wagner and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes – didn’t receive any end-of-season awards, so their new contracts will begin at 25% of the cap and will be worth $224,238,150 across the next five seasons.

Meanwhile, Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. would have qualified for a designated veteran extension – also known as a super-max contract – if he had earned a spot on any of this year’s three All-NBA teams. However, he finished 17th in total voting, with 55 points, falling a little short of the required threshold. Clippers guard James Harden beat him out for the final Third Team spot with 68 points (Twitter link).

As a result, Jackson won’t be super-max eligible this offseason. That means in order to extend him, Memphis will likely need to give him a raise on his 2025/26 salary of $23,413,395 via renegotiation.

Without a pay bump, Jackson’s maximum extension would be worth $146,848,813 over four years, which may not be enough to convince him to sign. If the Grizzlies renegotiate next season’s salary to give him a raise, they would be able to offer up to 140% of his new ’25/26 salary in that first year of an extension.