Since the 2010-11 season, the Magic have only made the playoffs five times in 14 seasons. During this period, the Magic’s core players have been changing, from “Warcraft” Howard in the early 2010s to Dwight Howard in 2017. The main players have been replaced by Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic, but neither of them has been able to lead the team to win the series. This time it is Paolo Banchero who is still recruiting new players. ) and F. Wagner (Franz Wagner) are two young captains leading the team.
There have been four No. 1 picks in the Magic’s history, including No. 1 pick Shaquille O’Neal in 1992. After having the No. 1 pick for two consecutive years in 1993, they chose to trade Chris Webber for the third pick, Harder. Penny Hardaway, Howard, the No. 1 pick in 2004, and Benqueiro, the No. 1 pick in 2022, can be said to be a team with quite good fortunes and favored by the god of luck.
The Magic’s first three No. 1 picks did not disappoint the team. The players they selected all led the Magic to a period of brilliant results, especially the combination of O’Neal and Hardway, who showed amazing momentum as soon as they were combined. They made it straight to the championship game in the second year, but unfortunately lost to the Rockets led by Hakeem Olajuwon. They even challenged the legendary star Michael Jordan at the time several times. They are the favorite legendary classic combination among Magic fans. .
Howard also led the Magic to challenge for the championship in the 2008-09 season, but unfortunately lost to the Lakers of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. However, under the leadership of Warcraft, the team once won the championship for 6 consecutive seasons. In the playoffs, it was once a strong player in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, with the evolution of the style of play and the decline of Howard’s injury, the team’s subsequent combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. The road to rebuilding began after not making the playoffs for many years and looking for a new core.
Unexpectedly, in 2022, the Magic would be lucky enough to get the No. 1 pick again. This time they chose Banqueiro. This seems to be another very successful No. 1 pick. In just two years, with the star wing Wagner and high-quality backcourt Jalen Suggs selected in the 2021 lottery the previous year, the Magic returned to the playoffs.
Similar to 1993, this group of players are all young and have potential. They can perform well when they first enter the league. They not only bring considerable salary bonuses to the team, but also can work together for a long time. As long as the players are not seriously injured, the Magic There is a chance to become an emerging power in the Eastern Conference in the future, and even challenge for the championship in a few years.
Since the two main core players are still accepting new contracts, the Magic also have huge salary space this year. What the Magic lack most is outside firepower. Therefore, before the free market opens, almost all Magic and Klay Thompson and George ( Paul George) and two outside shooters are connected, and he believes that the Magic is likely to be the next home of these two.
Although Thompson’s data has declined year by year, he still averaged 17.9 points per game last year, took 9 three-pointers per game, and shot 38.7% from the field. George’s data is even better, averaging 21.9 points per game and taking 7.9 three-pointers. Hit rate 41.3%. It is indeed the outside shooter that the Magic need, but as soon as the free market opened, the Magic immediately signed a new three-year, 66 million contract with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, which was equivalent to announcing that the Magic did not have enough space to compete for this player. Two free agents.
