Orlando Magic

Magic Receive: C Wendell Carter Jr, F Otto Porter Jr, CHI 2021 1st Round Pick (Top-4 Protected), CHI 2023 1st Round Pick

There was a growing belief that the Orlando Magic would be “sellers” at the trade deadline this year, but nobody really expected them to trade Nikola Vucevic… and neither did they! Orlando had made their intentions to keep the All-Star center clear, but after deciding that this trade package for him offered “too much potential,” they pulled the trigger and sent Vucevic to Chicago. 

Now, the Magic face yet another rebuild, but this time, things have a chance to be different because they actually have some young talents and future draft picks to build with. While Markelle Fultz, Jonathan Isaac and Cole Anthony are all injured and unlikely to return at any point this season, they are all focal points of the Magic’s young core and pieces to build with for the future. 

At this point in the season, given all of their injuries and struggling to find success, the Orlando Magic were not going to be a playoff team and even at full strength, they probably did not have enough firepower to compete with some of the other teams in the East to make it out of the first-round if they somehow did make the playoffs. 

This organization was not going anywhere in terms of success, so that is why they made this move to trade Vucevic and are beginning to turn the page to a new chapter by trading away other key players on the roster. 

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Getting Wendell Carter Jr. to be their center of the future is a very solid move, especially since he has the potential to be a really solid frontcourt player for a long-time. Now in his third season in the league, Carter Jr. has averaged 10.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.0 block and has shot 50.9% from the floor in 119 career games with the Bulls. 

Adding Wendell Carter Jr. to a frontcourt with Jonathan Isaac is a great move, as is getting two first-round picks in 2021 and 2023. The first-round pick in 2021 is protected Top-4, but with the Bulls looking like they are a solidified playoff team in the East now, this pick should convey and there are no known protections on the 2023 first-round pick. 

The rebuild process in Orlando is on and honestly, they are not in a bad position at all. As of right now, the Magic have two first-round picks this year and 5 first-round picks through 2023 that they will use to draft high-level, young talents to add to their group of young players. The future is bright for this team and if they end up with the #1 overall pick this year, they could end up with yet another high-level prospect in Cade Cunningham or Jalen Green. 

There is a lot to like about the Orlando Magic moving forward, but it will definitely be a few years until this team is back in the playoff discussion. 

GRADE: B