Orlando Magic News & Rumors

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Orlando Magic.

Free agent signings

• Tyus Jones: One year, $7,000,000. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
• Moritz Wagner: One year, $5,000,000. Re-signed using Bird rights.

Trades

• Acquired Desmond Bane from the Grizzlies in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, the No. 16 pick in the 2025 draft, the Magic’s 2026 first-round pick (with swap rights; details below), the Magic’s 2028 first-round pick, the Magic’s 2030 first-round pick, and the right to swap first-round picks with the Magic in 2029 (top-two protected).
  • Note: The Grizzlies will have the ability to swap the Magic’s 2026 first-round pick for the Suns’ 2026 pick (if the Wizards’ first-rounder lands outside of the top eight) or for the least favorable of the Suns’ and Wizards’ 2026 picks (if the Wizards’ first-rounder lands in the top eight).
• Acquired the draft rights to Noah Penda (No. 32 pick) from the Celtics in exchange for the draft rights to Amari Williams (No. 46 pick), the draft rights to Max Shulga (No. 57 pick), either the Pistons’, Bucks’, or Magic’s 2026 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable), and either the Celtics’ or Magic’s 2027 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable).
  • Note: The Celtics had traded their 2027 second-round pick to the Magic in a previous deal.

Draft picks

• 1-25: Jase Richardson
  • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $15,308,562).
• 2-32: Noah Penda
  • Signed to four-year, $8,685,386 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

• Jamal Cain
  • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
• Orlando Robinson
  • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).

Departed/unsigned free agents

• Gary Harris (Bucks)
• Caleb Houstan (Hawks)
• Cory Joseph (unsigned)
• Mac McClung (unsigned)
• Trevelin Queen (unsigned)

Other roster moves

• Signed Paolo Banchero to a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale contract extension that begins in 2026/27. Projected value of $239,934,400. Projected value can increase to $287,921,280 if Banchero makes an All-NBA team or is named MVP or Defensive Player of the Year.
• Declined their team options on Gary Harris and Cory Joseph.
• Waived Ethan Thompson (two-way contract).

Salary cap situation

• Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
• Carrying approximately $193.5MM in salary.
• Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
• Portion of non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($7,104,000) available.
• Full bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) available.

The offseason so far

The most significant roster move the Magic made since their season ended was actually completed before the summer or the NBA offseason officially began. While the NBA Finals were still in progress, the front office struck a deal to acquire swingman Desmond Bane from the Grizzlies, giving up four first-round picks and a first-round pick swap to get it done.

It was a steep price to pay for someone who has never made an All-Star team and who averaged fewer than 20 points per game in 2024/25, but Bane is exactly the type of player Orlando needed.

Even as the roster jelled and they returned to the playoffs during the past two seasons, three-point shooting remained an issue for the Magic. The team’s 31.8% success rate last season didn’t just rank dead last in the NBA — the gap between Orlando and 29th-place Washington was bigger than the gap between the third- and 17th-place teams in that category.

Bane is one of the NBA’s top marksmen from beyond the arc — he holds a career average of 41.0% on 6.3 attempts per game and has never made fewer than 38.1% in a season. And while he’s not an All-Defensive caliber player, he won’t hurt you at all on that end of the court, especially since he likely won’t handle the toughest assignments for a Magic team that ranked second in the league in defensive rating without him last season.

Of course, it’s worth noting that the Magic signed three-and-D specialist Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency a year ago for many of the same reasons they acquired Bane this summer, and that was a bust. Caldwell-Pope’s 34.2% 3PT% in 2024/25 was his worst mark in nearly a decade. But Bane is a more well-rounded and dynamic player than KCP, has a more consistent track record as a shooter and scorer, and is five years younger. At age 27, Bane is still very much in his prime and should be part of Orlando’s core for years to come.

Besides ranking last in the NBA in three-point shooting last season, the Magic also finished 30th in assists per game. Jalen Suggs‘ lengthy injury absence was a factor, but even when he’s on the court, Suggs isn’t really a traditional point guard, so adding a player who better fit that bill was a top priority this summer. Orlando achieved that goal by using about half of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Tyus Jones to a one-year, $7MM contract.

Jones’ one-year stint in Phoenix was a disappointment, but little went right for the Suns in 2024/25, so it’s hard to place too much of the blame blame on Jones. He averaged double-digit points and at least five assists per game for a third straight season while continuing to take care of the ball at an elite level (his minuscule 1.1 turnovers per contest were, improbably, a career worst). Crucially, he matched a career high by making 41.4% of his three-pointers, an important consideration for a Magic team that won’t want to rely solely on Bane to upgrade its outside shooting.

With Bane and Jones on the books and Jase Richardson (No. 25) and Noah Penda (No. 32) added in June’s draft, the Magic were already moving into luxury tax territory, but they were still willing to go up to $5MM to re-sign Moritz Wagner to a one-year deal rather than targeting a 14th man willing to accept the veteran’s minimum.

That Wagner deal will make it a little more difficult for the Magic to duck under the tax line later in the season, but it could turn out to be a bargain if the big man is able to return during the first half of the season from the ACL tear he suffered last December. Prior to that injury, Wagner was on track for a career year, setting or matching career highs in several categories, including points (12.9) and rebounds (4.9) per game. He’ll provide important frontcourt depth if and when he’s back to 100%.

Given all the first-round picks the Magic gave up for Bane, we probably have to consider that trade the most meaningful transaction the team made this offseason. But if so, signing former No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero to a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension comes a very close second.

Banchero was limited to 46 games due to an oblique injury and saw his shooting percentages drop a little in his third NBA season, but he averaged 25.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, both career highs. A year earlier, the Magic had signed Franz Wagner to a maximum-salary rookie scale extension after he experienced a similar shooting dip in his third year, so there was no doubt that Banchero would get the same commitment.

Now the big question is whether Banchero will make an All-NBA team in 2026. If he does, it would bump his projected first-year salary from $41.4MM (25% of the cap) to $49.6MM (30%), and the cap/apron crunch that’s already facing Orlando beginning in 2026/27 would only become more challenging to navigate.

Up next

The Magic have 14 players on guaranteed standard contracts and have a team salary of $193.5MM, which would seemingly give them just enough room below their $195.9MM hard cap to add a 15th man on a minimum-salary contract. However, because Bane’s contract includes $1.2MM in unlikely incentives that count against the apron, Orlando doesn’t have the ability at this time to fill that final roster spot. Unless the team makes a cost-cutting move, that will have to happen later in the season.

There is still a two-way opening on the roster though, alongside new additions Jamal Cain and Orlando Robinson. Last season’s two-way players Trevelin Queen and Mac McClung remain unsigned, but Queen is no longer eligible for a two-way deal and the Magic withdrew their qualifying offer for McClung last month, suggesting that they’ll go in another direction with that spot.

When Lester Quinones recently agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with Orlando, reporting indicated he’ll be given a chance to compete for a two-way deal in training camp. I’d expect the Magic to sign at least a couple more players to get in on that competition before their camp gets underway.

With Banchero locked up, there are no extension candidates remaining for Orlando this fall. The team’s most important players – Banchero, Wagner (Franz, not Moritz), Bane, and Suggs – are all already under contract through at least 2028/29, while promising young guard Anthony Black won’t become eligible for a rookie scale extension until next July.