Orlando Magic fantasy basketball season recap

Previous team recaps: DET, WAS, POR, CHA, SAS, TOR, MEM, UTA, BKN, ATL, CHI, HOU, SAC, GSW, MIA, PHI

At a glance:

Record: 47-35 (5th, East) 

Offensive Rating: 112.9 (22nd)

Defensive Rating: 110.8 (3rd) 

Net Rating: 2.2 (14th) 

Pace: 97.37 (27th) 

2024 Draft Picks: 18, 47

After three straight seasons in the lottery, the Magic finally made their return to the postseason. Their 47 wins were the most they’ve had since the 2011-12 season, which was one of Dwight Howard’s last years with the team. Years of acquiring lottery talent finally paid off, and while their season did end with a first round loss to Cleveland, it became clear that this Magic team is here to stay. Their roster is riddled with young guys that were drafted in the lottery, and they will only get better as the team develops.

The offense may not have been up to par, but their defense was one of the best in the league. Only Minnesota and Boston (two teams that made the conference finals) had a better defensive rating over the course of the season while entering the season as the fourth youngest team in the league. Their defense is going to be scary for a while, and the offense should improve as the young studs develop.

One thing that will allow their offense to improve quickly heading into next season is an improvement at point guard. Markelle Fultz was disappointing this season, and the starting backcourt of Jalen Suggs and Gary Harris ended up averaging a combined 4.3 assists per game. Paolo Banchero (5.4) and Franz Wagner (3.7) were top two on the team in dimes. They’re excellent playmakers, but if the Magic are able to acquire a point guard that can space the floor and create shots for his teammates, their offense should be able to take a leap forward next season.

Fantasy Standout: Franz Wagner

Wagner was an excellent fantasy option in each of his first two seasons, but he took a step forward this year and was the best fantasy player on the team. He provided sixth round value with averages of 19.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 triples. He was one of two players on the team to finish inside the top-100 in 9-cat leagues and was the only one in the top-75. He was available to play in 72 games, which was actually a career-low for him. However, that shows just how available Wagner has been through his first three years in the league.

His postseason performance was mostly disappointing, but he did have a few big games at home. However, his upside is still incredibly high, and he is part of one of the best young duos in the entire league, along with Paolo Banchero. Wagner is an excellent playmaking forward, and that resulted in him setting a new career-high for assists. Regardless of what the team looks like moving forward, Wagner will see plenty of opportunities with the ball in his hands, though the addition of a true point guard will only make things easier for him. That should result in his shooting percentages improving, which will be nice to see after he shot just 28.1% from deep this season. He’ll be 23 years old at the start of next season, and he should be able to take another leap forward heading into year four.

Fantasy Revelation: Jalen Suggs

Suggs barely finished inside the top-200 last season after finishing outside the top-300 in 9-cat scoring as a rookie. However, he made a leap this year and finished as a top-100 player in fantasy basketball with averages of 12.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.0 triples per game. He has made big improvements as a shooter each season, as his 3-point percentage was up to 38.6% this year, which is a considerable improvement over his 21.4% mark as a rookie.

Suggs has gone under the radar because of the success of other players from the 2021 draft class (such as the aforementioned Wagner, who went three picks after Suggs). However, he made big improvements this season and should be an important part of the team’s backcourt moving forward. He has always been able to provide steals, but his career-highs of 2.0 triples and 47.1% shooting from the floor were enough for him to see his fantasy stock soar. Suggs was comfortable in an off-ball role this season with Banchero and Wagner dominating the touches, so if they make a move for a new point guard this summer, Suggs won’t be impacted much.

Fantasy Disappointment: Markelle Fultz

Fultz had an ADP of 99.5 in Yahoo leagues entering this season after finishing in the top-100 the year before. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to replicate that success when he was on the floor, though availability was an issue for him as well. He only played in 43 games and averaged 7.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steal, all of which were drop-offs from the year before. He finished outside the top-250 in 9-cat leagues, which made him one of the most disappointing picks in the entire league.

Unfortunately, this has been the case for most of Fultz’ career. This was only the third time in his career that he played in at least 20 games. In the two other seasons that he was relatively available, he played a much larger role than he did this year. Fultz is now 26 years old, and he has dealt with so many injuries through the first seven years of his career. The odds of him becoming a full-time starter again feel low, and while he can still be a serviceable player in spurts, he shouldn’t be a player to target in fantasy next season.

Fantasy Recaps/Look-Aheads 

Paolo Banchero:

Banchero is one of the best young players in the entire league, but that doesn’t always show up in 9-cat leagues. He ranked outside the top-150 in 9-cat leagues due three categories: field goal percentage (45.5%), free throw percentage (72.5% on 7.0 attempts) and turnovers (3.1). The rest of his numbers were great, but they weren’t enough to offset those three categories. In 80 games, he averaged 22.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.5 triples per game. He hasn’t turned 22 years old yet, so those numbers should all improve over the next few years, which should lead to his 9-cat value being a better representation of his impact. He just averaged 27.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists in his first ever playoff series against a really good defensive team with a supporting cast that struggled to help him offensively. He’s going to be a superstar for a long, long time.

Wendell Carter Jr.:

WCJ has been a solid fantasy option throughout his career, but this was arguably the worst statistical season he has had yet. He played just 55 games and averaged 11.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.2 triples in 25.6 minutes per game. He has expanded his range past the 3-point line, which has made him a better player on the offensive end. However, he averaged a career-low in both rebounds and blocks per game, which isn’t ideal for a 25-year-old center. His development into a player that can stretch the floor has opened up some space on the offensive end, but considering he has averaged 10.4 rebounds before and averaged 1.3 blocks as a rookie, this was an incredibly disappointing year for Carter Jr. The former No. 7 overall pick is still a player worth drafting, but the upside just doesn’t seem to be there.

Cole Anthony:

After an excellent 2022-23 season, Anthony’s role was reduced this past year, which negatively impacted his fantasy output. He played 22.4 minutes per game and averaged 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 triples while shooting 43.5% from the floor and 82.6% from the line, all of which were drop-offs from the year before. His minutes dipped for the second straight season, but he made improvements with his efficiency last year that made up for the lack of volume. Unfortunately, those didn’t stick this year. He is a solid rebounder for a 6’3” guard, and he is an excellent source of offense off the bench. However, with how crowded their backcourt is getting, Anthony doesn’t have the same fantasy appeal that he did over the previous two seasons.

Jonathan Isaac:

Isaac played 11 games during the 2022-23 season after missing the entirety of the two previous campaigns. The expectations for him entering this year were low, but he was able to play in 58 games, averaging 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 0.7 steals, 1.2 blocks and 0.7 triples in just 15.8 minutes per game. When he was on the floor, he was one of the best defensive players in the entire league, and for the first time in years, he was on the floor somewhat consistently. He’s a difficult player to trust due to his injury history, but his game is built for dominance in fantasy basketball. Even in limited action, there aren’t many players that can make the defensive impact that Isaac can. If he can ever play 20-25 minutes consistently over the course of the season, the league better watch out.

Anthony Black:

After being drafted with the No. 6 pick last summer, Black didn’t play a large role in year one. He played just 16.9 minutes per game and averaged 4.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals assists and 0.5 steals across his 69 appearances. He’s still only 20 years old, and while his first year may have been a bit disappointing, he still flashed his upside at times. He posted an elite steal rate in college, which will hopefully translate to him coming away with more swipes than he did during his rookie season. Barring roster changes, Black isn’t a player that should be targeted in redraft formats at this point.

Moritz Wagner:

Wagner was an important piece for Orlando this season, mostly in a reserve role. He averaged 10.9 points and 4.3 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game, and most of his fantasy impact came through his scoring. He is a solid offensive player on a team that struggled to produce points at times. He can be a solid streaming option when he is starting, but that only happened once last season.

Gary Harris:

Harris may have been a consistent part of the Magic’s starting unit, but he wasn’t able to make much of a fantasy impact. In 24 minutes per game, he averaged just 6.9 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.4 triples. He is another solid defensive player for them and a veteran on a young team, but he shouldn’t be targeted in fantasy drafts this season.

Restricted Free Agents: Chuma Okeke, Admiral Schofield, Kevon Harris, Trevelin Queen

Unrestricted Free Agents: Markelle Fultz, Gary Harris, Bol Bol, Goga Bitadze

Team Options: Joe Ingles, Moritz Wagner