{"id":404687,"date":"2026-09-19T15:44:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T15:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/404687\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T15:44:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T15:44:34","slug":"the-3-orlando-magic-players-who-make-up-the-core","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/404687\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 Orlando Magic Players Who Make Up the Core"},"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=\"9q\">The Orlando Magic have a big 2026-27 season ahead of them. The Magic will look to improve upon their eighth-place finish in 2025-26 with new head coach Sean Sweeney at the helm.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"9v\">However, the Magic will have to do so in what appears to be a tough Eastern Conference. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"a0\">This raises the question: Which Magic players are clearly part of the future core? These Magic players stand out as the top three who should be with Orlando for the long term. <\/p>\n<p>Paolo Banchero is the obvious No. 1<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2vhcz5s8efh39egyb.jpg\" alt=\"Paolo Banchero dunks in a game.\" title=\"Paolo Banchero dunks in a game.\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"ah\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mar 8, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) dunks the basketball in the third quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"an\">There is plenty to praise about Paolo Banchero. Throughout his career, he has shown that he can be available for Orlando. He played in 72 regular-season games in 2022-23, 80 in 2023-24 and 72 in 2025-26. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"as\">Having your leading scorer be consistently available for the majority of the season is important. Banchero is a player that a team can invest in, knowing that he will be on the floor. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ax\">His career regular-season averages are 22.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"b2\">Banchero is a very capable scorer who can rebound and dish out the ball. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"b7\">What also stands out about Banchero is his production in the postseason: 27.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. Each of these is higher than his aforementioned career regular-season averages. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bc\">Any team that wants to compete in the postseason needs their No. 1 player to step it up, especially in scoring. Banchero has shown his ability to do just that.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to imagine Desmond Bane not on the Magic<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2vhjstc7kcj0mz1k9.jpg\" alt=\"Desmond Bane dribbles the basketball in a game.\" title=\"Desmond Bane dribbles the basketball in a game.\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"bt\"\/><\/p>\n<p>May 1, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) dribbles the ball against the Detroit Pistons in the fourth quarter during game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bz\">Desmond Bane showed his value in his first season with the Orlando Magic. In the 2025-26 regular season, Bane averaged 20.1 points on 48.4% shooting from the field and 39.1% shooting from deep. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"c4\">On top of that, Bane was available, playing and starting in all 82 games. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"c9\">If Bane keeps being this up, it&#8217;s difficult to think about Orlando wanting to move on from him. His 3-point shooting is especially key for a team that struggled last season <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/magic\/onsi\/the-flaw-the-orlando-magic-can-t-ignore-01m1h4evqr4s\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">from beyond the arc<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ce\">It&#8217;s not like 2025-26 was a fluke for Bane. His career regular-season averages are 18.3 points per game on 47.5% shooting from the field and 40.7% shooting from three. <\/p>\n<p>Anthony Black or Jalen Suggs will be part of the future<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2vk3km8r9p6ksb4rw.jpg\" alt=\"Jalen Suggs has arm around Anthony Black\" title=\"Jalen Suggs has arm around Anthony Black\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"cv\"\/><\/p>\n<p>May 3, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs (4) puts his arm around guard Anthony Black (0) in the second half against the Detroit Pistons during game seven of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-19\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"d1\">Anthony Black had a huge year three, averaging 15 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the regular season. He played in 64 games with 40 starts, the most starts he has had in a season. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-20\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"d6\">If he continues this production, or better yet, continues to improve, Black should be a player the Magic want to have long term. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-21\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"db\">However, the dynamic is interesting when considering Jalen Suggs. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-22\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"dg\">Suggs has not been very available throughout his career in the regular season, only playing in over 60 games once. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-23\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"dl\">For a team that is looking to establish itself in the East, availability will be big. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-24\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"dq\">Suggs averaged a career-high in assists in the 2025-26 regular season, 5.5, to go along with 13.8 points per game. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-25\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"dv\">If Suggs can show that combination of scoring and passing, even increasing his assists per game, that would be ideal for the point guard. It would really show his value to Orlando. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-26\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"e0\">But if Black keeps up his 2025-26 momentum, it&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/magic\/onsi\/projected-top-3-orlando-magic-reserves-this-season-01m1vsm3gcf9\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hard to deny his value<\/a> as well. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-27\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"e5\">It will help both of them if they increase their 3-point field goal percentage. Black is a career 33.8% shooter from deep in the regular season, while Suggs is a 33.1% shooter from beyond the arc. <\/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\" preventdefault:click=\"\" 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]\" on:pointerenter=\"q-COP7zT6j.js#s_1NOcOpHWmT0\" on:touchstart=\"q-CR27V2Qt.js#s_R8AiGTDeM28\" on:focus=\"q-BkJ6v8Fp.js#s_gxiTM6qMMu8\" on:click=\"q-DBywg9xr.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"eb\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orlando Magic have a big 2026-27 season ahead of them. The Magic will look to improve upon&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-404687","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\/404687","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=404687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}