The Orlando Magic appear to be trending in the right direction and are looking to bounce back from an injury-riddled season and build on the momentum of their short-lived but memorable run in last season's playoffs.
Two of the Magic's stars, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, missed significant time last season, hindering Orlando's consistency on offense. However, after parting with head coach Jamahl Mosley in May, the Magic brought on Sean Sweeney to hopefully build on the team's elite defense and unlock their scoring.
However, in an increasingly competitive Eastern Conference, reaching contention will be harder now more than ever for a team still searching for its stride. What will the season look like with a finally healthy Magic team and new leadership?
ESPN's staff of experts is looking back at the offseason and taking an early look at the 2026-27 season for all 30 teams, with 30 pieces -- one for every team -- rolling out each weekday through Sept. 18. We're answering the biggest looming questions, evaluating X factors and much more.
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Offseason at a glance
Key additions: C Nikola Vucevic, G Izaiyah Nelson
Key subtractions: F Moritz Wagner, G Jett Howard
Key retentions: F Jonathan Isaac, G Jevon Carter
The Magic's biggest move this offseason was hiring Sean Sweeney to replace Jamahl Mosley. Orlando also brought Nikola Vucevic back on a one-year, $3.9 million deal since trading him in 2021 and will use his ability to score and shoot to space the floor for Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane. The Magic blew a 3-1 lead over top-seeded Detroit in the first round of the playoffs after Wagner went down due to injury and were in desperate need of someone who can get easier baskets and make outside shots. Vucevic should help. Moe Wagner departed for Brooklyn via free agency, separating Franz from his brother for the first time in his pro career. -- Ohm Youngmisuk
Zach Kram's offseason grade: D+
Former franchise center Vucevic is returning on a minimum contract, but the Magic have otherwise sat out the offseason since hiring Sean Sweeney as their new coach. Once again, it seems, they're hoping for better health and internal development to fix their problems and vault them out of the middle of the Eastern Conference standings next season. -- Kram
What we learned this offseason
From Ben Golliver's offseason lessons piece: The Magic just wanted a new voice.
Orlando came awfully close to winning its first playoff series since 2010 last season, but instead it blew a 3-1 lead against the Detroit Pistons and suffered its third consecutive first-round exit. That demoralizing ending, which followed months of reported tension between Jamahl Mosley and his players, led to the coach's dismissal.
The Magic hired well-regarded San Antonio Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney to replace Mosley, then decided to keep the bulk of its playoff rotation intact. In fact, Orlando's five highest-paid players -- Banchero, Wagner, Bane, Jalen Suggs and Wendell Carter Jr. -- will all return. That group deserves another shot, as it logged just 182 minutes together last season due to a string of injuries.
Sweeney has extensive experience working with stars during his previous stops with the Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks, so hopefully he will be able to coax more efficient scoring from Banchero. But the Magic's path to postseason progress begins with their defense: Orlando slipped from second in defensive efficiency in 2024-25 to 13th last season. A reversal of that trend under Sweeney could have the Magic competing for a top-four playoff seed next season. -- Golliver
The big question: Can Sweeney unlock the Magic big three?
Orlando's front office believes the Magic can be the team it envisioned, contending in the East with a stingy defense and a young core. They saw the potential when Orlando looked destined to turn around a disappointing season by getting out of the Play-In last season and coming close to eliminating the East's top team in Detroit.
Can Sweeney find a way to get the best out of Banchero, Wagner and Bane? Regarded as one of the top defensive-minded head coaches in waiting and a grinder known for helping develop stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, Sweeney will have to get Banchero and Wagner on the same page, keeping them healthy and finding a way to improve the Magic's offense and outside shooting. He also is expected to turn an already stellar defense into an elite one. -- Youngmisuk
Basketball Power Index rank: No. 16
Here are the predicted Net Points per 100 possessions for the Magic's top seven players for the 2026-27 season:
Banchero has shot an effective 53% from the field in his career. That is lower than all top five picks in every draft since 2018, except for last year's Rookie of the Year, Cooper Flagg, by the tiniest amount.
Orlando has five players in its rotation who were taken in the top eight of the draft. Wagner and Carter are the two that are ahead of the average performance at their pick number. -- Dean Oliver
Read about how Net Points works here.
Biggest X factor this season
The Magic become a much more talented team when Suggs is available and playing at his best, but two key questions surround the combo guard in his age-25 season. First, can he stay on the court? Suggs' 57 games last season were the second-most in his career, and he's exceeded 1,600 minutes just once. Second, can Suggs shoot? He made 40% of his 3s in 2023-24 but has regressed to 31% and 34% over the last two seasons. -- Kram
Betting insight from our expert
Bet to make ahead of the season: The Magic will participate in the play-in tournament (+110)
The Magic have participated in the play-in tournament in each of the past two seasons, winning 45 games last season and 41 the season before. They battled injuries to key players during both seasons, particularly to young stars Banchero and Wagner, so with complete health they have the upside to improve. On the other hand, the Eastern Conference has become tougher this offseason, so it will likely be more difficult to earn a top-6 seed this season than in recent seasons. All told, the Magic project to be a team in the bottom half of the top-10 in the East, giving them a good chance to be in the play-in for the third straight season. -- Andre Snellings
Odds by DraftKings 
at time of publication.
