![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Jevon-Carter-200x300.jpg\")
Jevon Carter<\/a>: One year, minimum salary. Fully guaranteed. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.\nJonathan Isaac<\/a>: One year, minimum salary. Fully guaranteed. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
\nNikola Vucevic<\/a>: One year, minimum salary. Fully guaranteed. Signed using minimum salary exception.<\/p>\n
Trades<\/p>\n
Acquired the draft rights to Izaiyah Nelson<\/a> (No. 51 pick) from the Wizards and cash ($1.25MM) from the Bucks in a three-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to Felix Okpara<\/a> (No. 46 pick; to Magic).<\/p>\n Draft picks<\/p>\n Two-way signings<\/p>\n Colin Castleton<\/a><\/p>\n One year, $91,000 partial guarantee (will increase to $339,441 at start of regular season).<\/p>\n Izaiyah Nelson<\/a><\/p>\n Two years, $91,000 partial guarantee (will increase to $339,441 at start of regular season). Departed\/unsigned free agents<\/p>\n Other roster moves<\/p>\n Exercised team option on Jamal Cain<\/a>\u00a0($2,584,539; non-guaranteed).<\/p>\n Salary cap situation<\/p>\n Note: Figures are rounded to one decimal place.<\/p>\n Operating over the first apron ($209MM) and below the second tax apron ($221.7MM). The offseason so far<\/p>\n While the Pelicans have probably taken the most flak of any NBA team for their offseason inactivity, it\u2019s hard to imagine a much less eventful summer than the one the Magic have had. Orlando hasn\u2019t made a single transaction since July 1, when the team completed a series of two-way and minimum-salary signings to fill out the fringes of its roster.<\/p>\n President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman strongly hinted back in May<\/a> that it wouldn\u2019t be an especially eventful offseason in Orlando. Weltman bemoaned the fact that injuries to key players \u2013 most notably Franz Wagner<\/a> \u2013 derailed the Magic\u2019s season and prevented the team from playing spoiler in the first round of the playoffs after it won three of the first four games against the top-seeded Pistons.<\/p>\n Weltman said at the time that the Magic were a top-five defensive and top-10 offensive team when they were healthy and expressed confidence that the roster is made up of players capable of elevating their games in the postseason. He went on to add<\/a> that he expected the front office to take \u201csmaller nibbles\u201d at the roster rather than making any big swings, and he suggested that a head coaching change would likely be the most impactful move of the offseason.<\/p>\n After taking over as Orlando\u2019s head coach following a 21-win season in 2020\/21, Jamahl Mosley improved the club\u2019s record in each of his first three seasons on the job, then made the playoffs in 2024, 2025, and 2026. But Mosley\u2019s inability to get out of the first round in any of those three years led to his ouster, and the Magic decided to bring in the top assistant from the Western Conference champion Spurs, hiring Sean Sweeney as their new head coach.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to predict how a first-time coach will take to the job, but Sweeney has been viewed as a future head coach for years and has compiled an impressive r\u00e9sum\u00e9 as an assistant, helping both Dallas and San Antonio reach the NBA Finals in the past three seasons. It will be interesting to see what sort of changes he implements in an effort to ensure this roster \u2013 led by Wagner, Paolo Banchero<\/a>, Desmond Bane<\/a>, Jalen Suggs<\/a>, and Wendell Carter Jr.<\/a> \u2013 reaches its ceiling.<\/p>\n Of the 15 players on standard contracts who finished last season on the Magic\u2019s roster, 13 are set to return for 2026\/27, including veteran point guard Jevon Carter<\/a>, who signed a new minimum-salary contract in free agency after joining the club on the buyout market in February. The team is making a big bet on improved health luck and Sweeney\u2019s ability to get more out of this group. Still, there are a couple of minor changes worth noting.<\/p>\n Vucevic has never been a great defender and isn\u2019t the same sort of All-Star level scorer he was in his prime, but the 35-year-old is still a talented offensive player who can make three-pointers. His floor-spacing ability will bring an important element to the frontcourt of a Magic team that ranked 24th in made three-pointers and 27th in three-point percentage last season even after acquiring Bane.<\/p>\n Additionally, the Magic waived forward Jonathan Isaac<\/a>, eating the $8MM partial guarantee on his $14MM salary for 2026\/27, then re-signed him to a new minimum-salary contract.<\/p>\n Using the stretch provision on Isaac\u2019s partial guarantee would\u2019ve allowed Orlando to reduce his cap hit all the way to $1.14MM, saving the team a significant amount of projected tax money. But taking that route would\u2019ve resulted in Isaac\u2019s dead money staying on the cap for seven years and would\u2019ve prohibited the team from re-signing him. He\u2019s a situational player at this point in his career, but the Magic value his locker room presence and his fit in certain matchups, so being able to bring him back was an important consideration for the front office.<\/p>\n Between his $8MM in dead money and his new $2.45MM cap hit, Isaac will still count for about $3.55MM less than he would have on his previous deal, which will allow the Magic to operate below the second apron threshold.<\/p>\n Up next<\/p>\n Even after accounting for the Isaac savings, the Magic are just $2.5MM away from the second apron and would move to within about $47K of that threshold if they sign a minimum-salary free agent as a 15th man.<\/p>\n Orlando isn\u2019t hard-capped at the second apron, so the front office doesn\u2019t have to worry too much about another addition eliminating its rest-of-season cap flexibility. Still, carrying a full 15-man roster into the season would make an already expensive roster even pricier after taking into account the tax penalties, so I\u2019d expect the team to leave that last spot open for now.<\/p>\n Before addressing the 15th roster slot, the Magic will need to figure out whether they want to replace their 14th man. Jamal Cain<\/a> played well in a limited role last season, but his minimum-salary contract is fully non-guaranteed for now and actually carries a slightly larger cap charge ($2.58MM) than a newly signed minimum deal would. Still, my working assumption is that Orlando will hang onto Cain, who started the team\u2019s final three playoff games in the spring after Wagner injured his calf.<\/p>\n
\nSecond year non-guaranteed but will increase to the maximum two-way protection amount on August 1.<\/p>\n
\nNo hard cap.
\nTeam salary: $217.9MM (tax); $219.2MM (apron)
\nAbove luxury tax line by $17.4MM; above first apron by $10.2MM; below second apron by $2.5MM.
\nTaxpayer mid-level exception ($6.1MM) available.
\nOne traded player exception frozen\/unavailable (worth $7.7MM).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Nikola-Vucevic-vert-212x300.jpg\")
For one, after Franz\u2019s brother Moritz Wagner<\/a> received a lucrative two-year deal from the Nets, the Magic had to go out and find another big man to fortify a frontcourt led by Wagner and Goga Bitadze<\/a>. They ended up reuniting with an old friend, bringing back Nikola Vucevic<\/a> on a minimum-salary contract.<\/p>\n