The Magic unquestionably took a step back during the 2026 season. Several factors contributed to that, even though health concerns dominated the headlines.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest factors for Orlando’s subpar season was a major regression in the second unit, which plummeted from 16th in scoring all the way to 27th, and also saw declines in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game — essentially every category.<\/p>\n
Several players at different points of the season were also playing in roles completely different from what they expected, most notably Anthony Black, who started a career-high 40 games with the injuries to Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs.<\/p>\n
The starters did not struggle to build leads<\/a>. Rather, the bench unit struggled to keep them, which became a huge issue the front office went into the offseason looking to address. <\/p>\n There are several reasons to believe the Magic could see major improvement from their second unit and bounce back to at least the middle of the pack.<\/p>\n Stable depth at point guard<\/p>\n The Orlando Magic have tried several options at backup point guard to varying degrees of success. <\/p>\n Tyus Jones did not work in the way anyone anticipated last season. The rocky ground at point guard was a huge factor in the second unit underperforming.<\/p>\n The last time the Magic had a bench that performed at a high level, their backup point guard was Corey Joseph — a stabilizing, reliable veteran presence who understands his strengths and weaknesses and the ins and outs of the NBA.<\/p>\n Jevon Carter is a different player than Cory Joseph, but he offers many of the same benefits that he did for this team. After signing with Orlando last season, Carter proved to be another reliable veteran who understands the league and his game.<\/p>\n Although Carter is fully confident in his shot, he rarely forces shots out of rythym or outside of the structure of the offense. <\/p>\n His ability as a point-of-attack defender also offers the opportunity to not have a huge drop-off on defense from Jalen Suggs to the bench. <\/p>\n Magic fans should be confident that Jevon Carter can provide stability, defense and some scoring ability for the second unit, which, with the way the team is constructed, is precisely what Jeff Weltman is likely looking for in a backup point guard.<\/p>\n Player role realignments<\/p>\n Last year, Anthony Black set career highs in points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks per game<\/a> because injuries to the starters caused him to be thrust into the starting lineup. <\/p>\n Black provides a unique skillset in which he can play, guard and score from multiple positions.<\/p>\n While the career highs are exactly what everyone hoped to see, starting 40 games was not the plan for Black going into the season. <\/p>\n Going into the year, one of the major things Orlando hoped Black would provide was a scoring punch for the second unit. Black not being on the second unit further illustrated their struggles in scoring the basketball.<\/p>\n With the team looking healthy, Black will have the freedom to operate that he did not have with the starters and should be able to provide some of the scoring that Orlando’s bench needs desperately.<\/p>\n Black is extremely versatile and can be paired with essentially any player on the roster due to his ability to play on the wing or either guard spot. This versatility is very difficult for opposing teams to match up with, especially in their second unit.<\/p>\n While Jevon Carter offers a major improvement over Tyus Jones in the backup point guard role, Anthony Black will be the first guy off the bench. His scoring ability could not only be a catalyst for major improvements for the Magic, but it could also set him up as a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate.<\/p>\n Improved scoring options<\/p>\n The Orlando Magic made very minimal changes to their roster, but they did not bring back Nikola Vucevic, even at a minimum contract, for nostalgia alone<\/a>.<\/p>\n They brought him in because the front office believes he can help provide some real needs the Magic have.<\/p>\n Although Goga Bitadze is a very high-level rim protector, Orlando had a significantly better bench unit with a healthy Moe Wagner before Wagner’s knee injury.<\/p>\n While Vucevic had an unceremonious ending to his very short tenure with the Boston Celtics, he did average 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game for the season. He is similar to Wagner in the sense that he can “roll out of bed scoring 10 points”<\/p>\n Vucevic has become a reliable shooter throughout his career and shot just under 38 percent prior to being traded from Chicago last season.<\/p>\n Between Vucevic, Black, and even Carter, there should be players in the second unit the Magic can depend on to score points, which was by far the biggest struggle for the bench last year. <\/p>\n Internal improvement<\/p>\n I can hear the cumulative sigh when Orlando Magic fans hear the term “internal improvement”<\/p>\n That being said, the Magic have players in Noah Penda and Jamal Cain who jumped off TV screens in the limited opportunity they were given last season.<\/p>\n Jamal Cain earned a standard contract with the Magic by providing reliable minutes every time his name was called, even being tasked with guarding Cade Cunningham in the playoffs when Franz Wagner went down.<\/p>\n Cain also flashed extreme athleticism, culminating with having the dunk of the season<\/p>\n Penda also had a very limited role but played well when his name was called and was actually the difference between the Magic winning and losing a handful of games last season.<\/p>\n Penda appeared to show improvement, specifically on the offensive end, during Summer League, especially when he went 5 for 10 and scored 23 points in the first game in Vegas. The battle between him and Jonathan Isaac<\/a> during training camp will be something to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n Again, injuries have gotten all of the headlines because it is by far the biggest factor of the season, but if the bench does not improve from last year, the Magic will be fighting an extremely difficult uphill battle even with a fully healthy team. <\/p>\n Between stability at backup point guard, scoring options that were added to the bench, players returning to roles the roster construction demands they play, and internal improvements, the Magic should see major improvement to their bench unit this season.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
Add us as a preferred source on Google