{"id":322628,"date":"2026-06-28T16:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T16:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/322628\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T16:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T16:12:12","slug":"why-magic-should-make-the-call-for-this-young-bucks-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/322628\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Magic should make the call for this young Bucks guard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6w\">Last week, the Milwaukee Bucks dealt two-time MVP and 10-time All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, shaking up the rest of the East and, honestly, the league as a whole.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6z\">The Magic&#8217;s name was floated for Antetokounmpo, but they were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/magic\/onsi\/magic-giannis-antetokounmpo-blockbuster-trade-rumors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">never really in the hunt<\/a> due to their unwillingness to swap Paolo Banchero (or Franz Wagner). As a result, Antetokounmpo will reside ~4 hours south. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"72\">That shouldn&#8217;t stop Orlando from conversing with Milwaukee, however &#8212; specifically for guard Ryan Rollins. <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25442973-ranking-every-teams-top-3-trade-and-free-agency-targets-after-2026-nba-draft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">According<\/a> to Bleacher Report&#8217;s Grant Hughes, Rollins should be the top trade option for the Magic to consider this offseason.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">&#8220;The Orlando Magic need to get cheaper and add shooting, which isn&#8217;t going to be easy,&#8221; Hughes <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25442973-ranking-every-teams-top-3-trade-and-free-agency-targets-after-2026-nba-draft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wrote.<\/a> &#8220;[Ryan Rollins] is on a dirt-cheap deal and played like an upper middle-class starter last season. [Jalen Suggs] is a better player on balance because of his defense, but the Magic need help on the other end and haven&#8217;t been able to count on his availability.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Why Magic must make call for Ryan Rollins, even if a deal materializing is unlikely:<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kw79xh12x8n95pw9jv.jpg\" alt=\"Ryan Rollins\" title=\"Ryan Rollins\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7i\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mar 23, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Ryan Rollins (13) reacts during the second half against the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images | William Liang-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7m\">While the Bucks acquired second-year guard Kasparas Jakucionis in the six-player Giannis blockbuster, and drafted Brayden Burries with the No. 10 overall pick, there always exists the possibility that Rollins still isn&#8217;t on the table as they enter this transformative rebuild phase.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7p\">But that shouldn&#8217;t stop the Magic from exploring, at the very least.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7s\">Rollins, who turns 24-years-old this week, exploded for a career year last season. He averaged 17.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals on 47.2 percent shooting and 40.6 percent from 3-point range. He showed glimpses the season prior, but took charge last year amid Damian Lillard&#8217;s departure and Antetokounmpo&#8217;s lingering calf injury.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7v\">Though the mechanics of any hypothetical deal between Milwaukee and Orlando is where the headaches begin to set it.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7y\">Rollins is on the hook for $4 million this year with a $4 million player option next summer; essentially, he&#8217;ll be playing 2026-27 on an expiring contract. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"81\">Orlando is in a far more precarious position. After saving $6.5 million on its cap sheet by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/magic\/onsi\/magic-officially-cut-ties-with-veteran-forward-01kw5s251agg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">waiving Jonathan Isaac<\/a>, Orlando remains $2.8 million above the first apron and $9.9 million below the second. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"84\">If the Magic were really frothing at the mouth for Rollins, perhaps they&#8217;d be more willing to eat one of Myles Turner ($26.6M), Kyle Kuzma ($20.5M) or Tyler Herro ($33M), with the latter two being expiring (and extension eligible) contracts. But that is still a lot to ask if the sacrificial lamb is Jalen Suggs. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"87\">At the end of the day, it takes two to tango, and there isn&#8217;t any word on the Magic&#8217;s interest in Rollins. With free agency in just over 48 hours, perhaps Orlando will be able to find cheap shooting &#8212; which it desperately needs.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8a\">But it&#8217;s worth a phone call, no matter how unlikely!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week, the Milwaukee Bucks dealt two-time MVP and 10-time All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, shaking&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-322628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}