Magic’s playoff elimination hammers home an obvious fatal flaw: Orlando badly needs a scoring guard

No, the Orlando Magic were never going to beat the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series this season. That would have been true almost regardless of the health circumstances both teams dealt with. Orlando, which was eliminated after a Game 5 loss in Boston on Tuesday night, is too early in its contention cycle to tangle with a defending champion still at the peak of its powers. It was never reasonable to expect otherwise.

That still doesn’t justify the season they just spent refusing to address the rather glaring lack of a scoring guard on this roster. Last year’s breakthrough performance still ended with a No. 22 ranking on offense and a first-round exit at the hands of Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers that largely boiled down to their inability to score. 

Orlando has now had a bottom-10 offense for an unfathomable 13 consecutive seasons, including all eight they’ve spent under current top basketball executive Jeff Weltman. We knew coming into the season that the Magic couldn’t score. Injuries played a part in that, of course, but they wound up ranking 27th in offense. The Magic made the playoffs and were worse on offense than tanking teams like the Jazz, Pelicans and 76ers. That can’t happen. It did because the Magic looked at their desperate need for a guard last offseason and decided that a 3-and-D veteran in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was enough. Obviously, he wasn’t.

This scoring guard didn’t need to be a superstar, mind you. The bar here isn’t especially high, at least for this stage of Orlando’s development. We know Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are going to use a lot of possessions. Putting them on the floor with a heliocentric All-Star like Trae Young wouldn’t make sense. But there is a middle ground here, and a reachable one. The Magic need someone who can dribble and shoot. They need someone who can prevent them from ranking 23rd in 3-point attempts and 30th by a mile in 3-point percentage. Just introduce someone who can penetrate the defense and make catch-and-shoot 3s so that Banchero and Wagner have a bit more room to work with.

Ty Jerome would be a godsend for this group. He’s about to become a free agent right as the Cavaliers are getting expensive. Could he be nicked for a mid-level contract? Orlando would have some work to do to be able to afford one, but it’s doable. Declining team options for Mo Wagner and Gary Harris immediately takes them back to around the tax line. From there, you have plenty of money-saving options. Jett Howard isn’t playing and could be easily traded into someone’s space. If they’re adding a guard anyway, trade Cole Anthony.

Jerome would be a worthwhile bridge option. The Magic are still figuring out what exactly they have here. They might not be ready for an all-in offer on a bigger name. D’Angelo Russell makes some measure of sense for the same reason, though his playoff track record is obviously spotty. The Magic can protect one weak link defensively. That defense doesn’t mean much if they can’t score.

You’ll hear about higher-end options, though, and if they are available, the Magic should go for them. Florida native Anfernee Simons is a popular trade machine name. He’s probably the ideal middle ground between a star and a bridge, someone who could age with this group for years without overwhelming its finances or trivializing Banchero or Wagner. He is not a point guard. He is a scorer, one who badly needs the defensive support the Magic can give him. He’s been a tremendous closer for the past two seasons, giving Orlando a situational alternative to Banchero.

Desmond Bane checks the same boxes. He’s old enough at 26 to win now but young enough to grow with this group. He’s expensive on a 25% max, but he’s locked into it through 2029 and the cap is going to rise faster than his contract will. Great shooter, serviceable creator, not especially high-usage relative to his peer group. Is he going to be as available as Simons? Probably not, but after the first-round drubbing the Thunder handed Grizzlies, nothing is off of the table.

Here’s a riskier name: Bradley Beal. He obviously has a no-trade clause, but he’s a University of Florida alum and he’d be joining a better team, so the Magic could potentially get him to waive it. The obvious benefit here is that he could be had for matching salary and likely nothing else. So, what sounds more appealing: Beal, a shot-creator who fills a demonstrated need even in his current state, or the combination of Caldwell-Pope coming off of a bad year, Anthony who would be getting replaced, Mo Wagner coming off of a torn ACL and Gary Harris likely beyond his rotation days? Purely for the sake of next year’s roster, the answer is probably Beal.

Last year was cute. This year, regardless of the injuries, was frustrating. NBA contention windows are fickle. It would be easy to look at Banchero and Wagner and assume they’re going to win together for a decade. It just rarely works out that way. Those two are ready to win now. The Magic have a championship-caliber defense. They have all of their first-round picks available to trade and a number of movable, mid-sized contracts to aggregate for someone better.

The time to take a significant step is now. The Eastern Conference isn’t going to be this weak after the first few seeds forever. Banchero and Wagner are going to hit their primes soon. The Magic have a chance to make real postseason noise as soon as next spring. If health permits, the only thing standing between them and doing so has been their dogmatic commitment to defense and big wings with almost every roster-building tool at their disposal. It’s time to diversify. The Magic are more than covered when it comes to size and defense. The next step is to add offense. They should’ve known that a year ago. They have to know it now.