The NBA Summer League is in the rearview mirror for the Orlando Magic.
The team has a full roster — save for two two-way spots to fill — and everything appears set for the 2024 season. That’s where all eyes will officially turn.
Orlando is set to hold its annual media day on Oct. 2 and begin training camp on Oct. 3. It feels like a long time from now. But everyone will have to wait until then for Magic basketball to return.
The final piece of the puzzle for the Magic’s highly anticipated 2024 season is the schedule. And with free agency mostly done — Damian Lillard and James Harden’s pending trade requests are the final piece of the puzzle — everyone’s just waiting for the schedule to come out so everyone can put their lives on the line from October to April.
And hopefully later.
The final piece of the offseason puzzle to fill is the Orlando Magic’s schedule for the 2024 season. And with hopes of a playoff season, here are the matchups the team should hope to get the national television shine.
The NBA schedule is typically released in early to mid-August. So there are still a few weeks before the NBA finalizes its schedule for the season.
Still, everyone is looking forward to seeing the 82-game roadmap for the Magic’s hopeful playoff ascent. And one of the elements everyone will be looking forward to is whether the Magic get their share of national TV appearances after getting only one non-NBATV appearance last year (at least until it was taken away thanks to Chet Holmgren’s Summer League injury).
What games will or should get the Magic on the national stage?
These games feel worthy enough to be shown on national television. They are based on the competitiveness and what the opposing teams have to offer in terms of players they have, how good they are etc.
1. Orlando Magic v. San Antonio Spurs: Magic Take on Wembanyama
The Orlando Magic are one of the teams in the NBA with a bright young core. The San Antonio Spurs are also in a similar boat to the Orlando Magic. On top of that, they drafted one of the most anticipated overall picks in Victor Wembanyama in recent times.
At 4ft Wembanyama is a franchise changing player and he really brings a spark to a Spurs team that already has a lot of potential across the board. They are a well-coached team that ranks fifth in the NBA in assists, which is typical of a Greg Popovich team.
The Orlando Magic opened their season last year against the Detroit Pistons in a matchup of the previous two top overall picks. And it’s certainly something that can grab the marquee after Banchero had a historic rookie season.
While Banchero deserves his place on the marquee, the national networks will be sure to try to put Wembanyama on TV as much as possible. It will be a fun matchup for sure.
There are many other young stars on this team who have shown and taken impressive steps. Incoming second-year player Jeremy Sochan was a relatively prolific scorer and rebounder, averaging 11 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last year. match in 26 minutes.
Another star garnering some attention is Keldon Johnson, who is averaging 22.0 points per game. game, and like Jeremy Sochan is also a very good rebounder, averaging 5.0 per game. match.
Last season, the Magic split their series with the Spurs, with both teams holding serve on their home court. The win and loss for Orlando were both by a margin of around 18-20 points. This means that a match between the two teams would once again be a contest that could go either way.
The split series from a year ago, the comparatively young core and the matchup with Wembanyama makes it a potential for national television.
2. Orlando Magic v. Miami Heat: Sunshine State Rivalry Reborn
It wasn’t the best matchup last season for the Orlando Magic against the Miami Heat. Orlando went 1-3 against the team’s in-state rivals and has won just two of its last 10 against Miami. All-time, Miami holds the series lead over Orlando 79-60.
Still, the games were entertaining. The two games at the Amway Center went to overtime. And even the first game against The Heat in Miami came to a standstill. The last game came in the last game of the season.
Orlando’s comeback win over Miami in March might have been the team’s best win of the season.
The Heat have also seen plenty of success recently with two NBA Finals appearances in the past three seasons and have been to the Conference Finals in three of the past four seasons.
The Magic have also scored at or better than the NBA average in points against the Heat in all four of their contests this past season. That means they are clearly capable of being more competitive on the offensive end of the floor against Miami in the future.
The ability to keep pace with the Heat on offense and the idea surrounding a grand revival of the Sunshine State rivalry is a great opportunity to get this game back on national television. One would say that the game itself will be even better with the Orlando Magic becoming even more competitive.
3. Orlando Magic v. Los Angeles Lakers: Paolo Banchero v. LeBron James
A matchup that would be something to watch.
LeBron James and Paolo Banchero go at it in a match for the ages. Two big players on the wing with great drives to the edge in the offensive end.
They take and make a lot of field goals, making them really efficient scorers, with Banchero and James averaging 6 and 11 field goals per game. match last season. They took a staggering 15 and 22 field goal attempts per game last year as well.
This match took place once last season back in December. It was a game where James thrived while Banchero struggled a bit. Banchero finished with four points on 1-for-6 shooting from the field. He had five rebounds but played just 22 minutes that game thanks to foul trouble.
James had 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes of playing time. He did this on 50 percent shooting from the field.
While the first matchup between the two teams may not be competitive, it is a battle between two goalscorers who have proven to be very effective on the wings. This deserves to make the Magic and Lakers a nationally televised game.
The Magic are waiting for the full schedule to be released sometime in August. And hopefully the team will have had a few opportunities to showcase themselves in front of a national audience.
- Published on 17/07/2023 at 20:12
- Last updated 17/07/2023 at 20:12