Orlando Magic CLOSER to contention than you think | The APRON DANCE begins this offseason

Orlando Magic CLOSER to contention than you think | The APRON DANCE begins this offseason

The Orlando Magic lost their playoff series to the Boston Celtics in five games. Big whoop. How close are the Magic to actually contending? Not as far as you think. Today on Locked On Magic, you are Locked On Magic, your daily Orlando Magic podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. And you are indeed locked on Magic. Today is May 12th, 2025. My name is Philip Rossike. the senior writer over at orlandomagicdaily.com. Of course, follow me on Twitter, phipr_omd, and on blue sky, phillipr. On today’s episode of Locked on Magic, part two of my conversation with Keith Smith of Spotrak, we’re moving away from the Magic series with Boston Celtics and moving toward how close the Magic are really to contention and what they have to do to get there. We’re going to talk a little bit about where the Magic stand in their development project. We’re probably going to have a third episode as well tomorrow talking about the Magic’s off seasonason and what tools they have available, what they can do in the offseason. We’re going to get to all that coming up over the next few days and certainly on today’s episode. I don’t want to waste too much time. But before we do that, we want to thank you again for making Locked on Magic your first listen of the day. Whether you’re listening to us right when we upload or listening to us whenever on your car ride to work, whenever you’re listening to us, we truly appreciate you making Locked On Magic your first listen every day. for my everydayers who listen every day. Truly appreciate that. Five episodes is a lot. We truly appreciate you making Lock on Magic part of your day and such a big part of your day. Remember, we’re all part of Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today’s episode of Locked On Magic is also brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code lockdown NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. Like I said, we still got a lot to get to. had a long conversation with Keith Smith last week. I believe we recorded it last Thursday afternoon. We’re done talking about the Magic Celtics series. We’re going to move on to where the Magic are in their rebuild and what it’s going to take for them to reach the next level because that’s obviously what’s on front what’s on the front of everybody’s mind. So, without much further ado, let’s get to it. Back with Keith Smith of Spotrak. I am back here with Keith Smith of Spotrak. And if you follow Spotrak at all, you know that that that that site deals with the stuff we’re going to be dealing with next, and that is the off seasonason. And that is how this Magic team moves forward. So, we’ll put the Celtics series to bed. Not going to talk. I mean, obviously, you talk about it. You learned a lot in that series. You gain some knowledge. You gain some experience. You kind of figure you you I I always say this, the playoffs are the greatest teacher. You figure out all your flaws, even if they’re obvious. you still learn a lot about your team even in a short playoff series. And I think the Magic did learn a lot and and they said as much uh in their in their exit interviews, but obviously everybody around this organization is sensing some kind of change and some kind of difference coming for this team. I want to start with this question though. Um you know, you mentioned how like precarious like trying to fix your offense and how that can pull away from your defense a little bit, but I want to start with this question. How close are the Magic to being a serious like a a a serious like Eastern Conference Finals Eastern Conference championship contender? H how how are they as far away as their record might might indicate? Definitely not as far away as like the regular season record in the playoff seating because let’s face it, if this team stays even slightly healthier, they’re probably ahead of the Pistons at least. I don’t know if they get all the way to the Pacers, but maybe they might even got to them, too. I I I picked them coming into the year. I think I either picked them fourth or fifth in the East. And I still feel like, yeah, that’s probably pretty valid if they had stayed, you know, mostly healthy because a dominant regular season defense can carry you to a bunch of wins you might not get otherwise. So, I think with the Magic, they’re close, right? And that’s I don’t think that’s out of pocket to say either because Jeff Welman seems to agree with that sentiment. You talked about it his comments at at exit interviews. It’s always been without him saying it directly, but it’s always been some form of preaching patience, right? Like we’re we’re still figuring it out. We’re still learning who we are and all the things. Got to let our guys grow and develop. Yeah. We want them to grow and all that. Now it was Yeah, we’re we’re here. we need win now pieces. We’re going to make win now moves. I’ve seen some people say, well, of course he’s saying that because he doesn’t know if they if they don’t do that, he’s going to get fired. Well, he also knows if he makes the wrong ones, he’s going to get fired, too. So, it’s like I think he’s more leaning to all right. Yeah, we’ve had four, five years of building this up. Now, it’s time time to go, right? And it’s we you and I have talked about it. I don’t know how many years running we’ve done this version of this. They did not want the first couple years that they got where it was, man. We kind of backed into these playoffs like like they were hoping to come in and start this process earlier. It all worked out fine because you started earlier, maybe you don’t get Paulo and Fron, right? Maybe you land in different spots in the draft. But anyway, his comments, you are where you are. You are like you are you are where you are like you’re on the path you’re supposed to be on. And I think his comments of we need to start making win now moves that backs that they know we’re pretty close, right? If we can hit on the right mix of guys, we’re pretty close. I’ll I always say this, the hardest part of a front office is knowing when to go because if you wait too long, you never get there. You you just Man, we never got there. Now Paulo’s on a max deal. Fron is on a max deal. Suggs is on a near max deal. We’re dealing with apron issues and we’re a 50- win team but not a, you know, we’re we’re maybe second round like we really need things to break our way to go further and we just never got there. And then it’s like, man, that’s when guys are like, “All right, I I want to win. I want to want to be more than this.” And that’s when teams start to break up and fall apart. The other thing is you go too early. If it was like, man, Paulo was pretty good his rookie year, huh? All right, let’s load up and go now. Maybe you will go too early and it’s like these guys weren’t ready and you never get there that way either. It’s timing that out. That’s the hardest job of a of a you know front office and a lead decision maker is knowing all right it’s time to go. It’s time to really go and I’ll say allinish because I don’t think maybe there’s the trade to be made that is everything under the sun and who knows who becomes available that we’re not expecting and they’re like go get that guy like that’s perfect fit and and they do that maybe that comes. I think it’s more of let’s let’s make major substantial moves to upgrade the offense around our guys, but we’re going to keep a little in reserve for whatever the next move is after that kind of and it’s I don’t want to keep bringing everything back to Magic and Celtics, but it’s a little bit what they did when they reset, right? It was we’re going to make we’re going to or we’re losing Kyrie and this whole thing’s crumbling and falling apart. It really became, all right, well, let’s get Kemell Walker, but that’s not like we don’t have to give up like he’s a free agent signing, so we don’t need to give up everything under the sun to get him. We’re going to leave a little bit of these picks and stuff in reserve. And that’s how they were able to, all right, well, now we got Al Horford back. And then the next move was, all right, let’s go get Drew Holiday. Like, you always had a little something extra. I think that’s where Welman will be. It’ll be big moves, but it’s not going to be here’s every pick we own. Unless I don’t know if Devin Booker magically becomes available. That’s a whole other Yeah. Let’s give up an awful lot and go get Deer. Yeah. And like and like look like I I I think if there is a star out there like Devin Booker is like the guy that the Magic would really like more than Trey Young, more than LaMelo Ball. Like I think those are all imperfect players where you give up a lot and you’re not sure what you’re getting back or or you like you said compromise the defense for an unknown offensive game and and it doesn’t necessarily it solves some of your problems. I’m not going to sit here and say it doesn’t it it doesn’t doesn’t make the Magic better, but it it feels like fans obviously want the marquee moves. They want the the the moves that go at the top of the marquee and so everyone is focused on the big names and it’s I think it’s going to be for the Magic a lot of those little names because the Magic have two all-stars like yeah I know Paulo and France weren’t all stars this year but those are allar level play they’re all they’re all NBA level players like they’re like if Fron stayed healthy he’d he’d probably be on the third team all NBA and cause a whole bunch of other cap problems that that the Magic were probably not completely prepared for that they’re maybe a little bit more prepared for when Paulo signs his Max this summer. Um because Paulo will probably be an allNBA player next season. Um yeah, that’s some some respects. The Magic got It’s funny because I’ve had this conversation with Pistons folks, too. It’s the Pistons are going the other way. Like Kate Cunningham having the major breakout season has turned into all right, now you’re going to have to pay him. You’re going to have to pay him 30% of the cap. The Magic got a little lucky where it’s like, “All right, Fran showed us all we need to know that he’s at that level, but he’s not going to make it. So now we don’t have to pay it. We can pay him 25% of the cap and they’ll reap the benefit with a little bit of flexibility moving forward.” It’s not It’s yo a little bit. It’s like not It’s a lot. That’s the other thing. Let’s not over 5 million. It sounds like a lot. And the cap is increasing and and like again, the cap is going to increase faster than the maximum raises. So, in this immediate first year, it’s it’s probably the most important. The years down the line, it won’t won’t matter quite as much, but this first year, they’re I don’t know how many Magic fans fully grasp like they’re straddling apron territory. I’ve been trying to warn them. Yeah, we’re right near there. So, like this year, yeah, France for 5 million less. That actually is very helpful. like like I I want to dive into the aprons a little bit later, but the Magic are probably a first apron team next year. It’s probably unavoidable. Um but again, Jaylen Sugg’s contract is frontloaded. It goes down. The cap will rise faster than Fron’s contract can rise. Then, you know, Paulo’s extension kicks in. Yeah, that there are one of the reasons why the Magic aren’t going for the marquee names is because that would make them a second apron team and they’re definitely not ready to be a second apron team and all that all that comes with that. Um, we’ll get to that. We’ll get to that in in a in a moment. Let’s take a quick break from our conversation with Keith Smith to tell you a quick word from our friends over at Door Dash. NBA fans, you know what time it is? It’s the playoffs that means big performances and even bigger rewards. Door Dash is bringing the heat with a slam dunk deal for Dash Pass members during the 2025 NBA playoffs. 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Sign up for Dash Pass to unlock this and more exclusive deals all season long. When any player scores 50 or more in a playoff game, Dash Pass members can grab a free three-piece crispy tempers combo from Wingstop the next day with a $20 or more order and code Wingstop 50. That’s Dash Pass, your door to more savings, more flavor, and more ways to win. Terms apply. One of the the big talking points for the Magic was the trade deadline and the inactivity at the trade deadline. Now, I would argue a the Magic were kind of in a bind at the deadline because they thought they were getting Jaylen Suggs back. You know, you go back to February 8th, whatever day it was. Jaylen Suggs had not been ruled out for the season at that point. Uh he’d had the knee issue. He’d been out for a week at that point. There were I think they were very they they very much believed Jaylen Sudge was going to be back around the All-Star break. And so, they weren’t they weren’t going to add a second shock. And for all the people who are like, “We need a point guard.” Jaylen Suggs, the Jaylen Suggs experiment for whatever you want to, whatever you think of it, they made the commitment, he’s our point guard this year. We’re going to go, we’re going to go with that. So, I think that was as big of a play at the trade deadline as anything else. But now that we’re here at the end of the season, it feels like the Magic are chasing a lot of the same names, or at least fans are pitching a lot of the same names that they pitched at the trade deadline. A lot of the guys that Magic fans have targeted did not get moved at the deadline. How does the situation for the Magic change from where they were at the deadline to where they’re now at in the off season? Yeah, so there’s a there’s a bunch of things to go into that. The first is the simple matter of it’s just easier to make a major trade in the summer than it is in season. There’s cap reasons for that. There’s roster reasons for that. cap reasons are, whether you directly have cap space or you’re pulling in a third team. Hi, Brooklyn Nets this summer. Uh, that has cap space, you you it’s just easier to make it work. If you need to need a facilitator to help you out and where the Magiker potential apron team, they may need that, right? They may need they may need somebody to take on one contract to kind of get them clear where they need to be. So, that’s good. You also have the fact that you can go up to 21 roster spots uh now under you know the current CBA in the offseason. You can you can you could go beyond where in the uh regular season or yeah regular season once you’re at the trade deadline you can’t right you’re you’re kind of stuck and what you can do in the off season is makes it a lot easier to do a five for one trade in addition because then it is hey free agents x y and z we can only offer the minimum but look at the team we put together you’re probably not getting more than that anyway and they’re like yeah you know what that sounds pretty good no snow to shovel in the winter time. It’s 80 degrees in February. I’m a minimum guy and I got no no state income tax. That that that should be an advant that should be where that’s an advantage. Should be and the team’s good. Sign me up. Let’s go. Whereas in the in in the uh regular season at trade deadline, if you do like a four for one trade and you’ve got the response to fill, you’re like, “All right, Gelet X, I guess. Like, we’ll bring you in.” Right? They’re just there aren’t, you know, necessarily the same quality of players available for that. So, it’s just far easier. The other part is when you then if you take the roster team component, it can be very hard to, hey, here’s a whole new philosophy mid-season on this. Like, let’s just making it up, but let’s say they traded for Trey Young at the trade deadline last season. That’s Jamal Mosley and staff. You have to craft a whole new deal, right? It’s going to be all right, what are we going to do? because we can’t just straight switch because we’ll get killed because they’re just going to go after him. Every team will put us in there. So, we’re gonna have to build in this. That has a carryover effect to the next guy and then the next guy and it just changes everything. And then offensively, it sounds awesome, but this is not pickup ball where it’s just go out there. And then if it’s like, all right, so Paulo, you’re going to give up 10 touches a game because we have to let Trey lead the offense. Well, when those guys start playing pickup in late August, early September, it’s a lot easier to be like, okay, I can give him the the the play to run because if I make this baseline cut, he’ll find me. Whereas, when it’s you’re playing together for the first time, it’s like, I don’t know, you really see those major off major inseason acquisitions go crazy and work out really great unless it’s like a Jimmy Butler to the Warriors where it’s like it’s a guy in a role. Yeah. And we’re 15-year vets that all know just how to go about this. And and all we want to do is win. No one really cares about other stuff here. Nobody’s coming in like you got Jimmy Butler didn’t walk into the Warriors saying you got me to be the guy. He walked in there. He’s like, I’m joining Steph and Draymond’s team. Like they they like I’m excited to be here and I’m going to do my thing, but like they don’t need me to be the guy here, right? And that’s that that that can be just very hard to work out on the fly in season. That that’s why all this stuff is easier to do in the summertime. Yeah. And we’ll we’ll get into like let’s get into the implications of that. Let’s explain the first apron because I I think it’s I think it’s time to hold everyone’s hand and and and make them realize the magic aren’t cheap here. They’re they’re getting very very expensive. We’re going to get to that coming up here in just a moment. Let’s take another quick break from our conversation with Keith Smith to tell you a quick word from our friends over at Monarch Money. Ever check your bank account and wonder where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping, and entertainment, it’s easy to lose track. That’s where Monarch Money comes in. 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I know we’re coming off Mother’s Day. Family’s kind of big right now. Um, but Hungaroo takes that off the table. Take advantage of this exclusive deal. Get 40% off your first box, plus a free item in every box for life. Go to hungri.com/lockton NBA and use code locked on NBA. That’s hungry.com/lockedonba. Code locked on NBA for 40% off and a lifetime free item. I’m joined once again by Keith Smith of Spotra. I can see his eyes tracking across his screen as he probably brings up his salary sheet. Um, as we’re going to talk, we’re going to talk first apron here. Um, I’ve mentioned this several times to we’ve mentioned it already. It’s it’s inescapable. It’s unavoidable. It’s the reason why that the number one thing I hate about the new collective bargain agreement. I’m sure you hate this too. I used to be able to dismiss any three or four team crazy trades hot out of hand and say that’s not happening. you send me a three team trade, I’m telling you it’s not happening. Now it’s the only way to do business. So the the larger and crazier your trade is, the more I have to actually look at it and say like, “Yeah, I I could kind of see that happening.” The only thing, sorry, Phil, I have to interrupt you because the thing I hate more than that is I can no longer with a complete assured straight face say, “Well, they’re never trading that guy, so why are we even talking about it?” Yeah. Thanks, Nico. like that ruined that forever because every time I say it, somebody counters with, “Well, Luca got traded.” So now like, and I I’ve made a rule on front office show, we no longer do the Luca caveat because I’m not doing it every time we talk about somebody who’s not getting traded. Like, it’s just too much. as as a member of the locked on NBA team uh team, it is our responsibility to make sure that our our our uh channel manager Nick Angstat, the host of Locked On Mavericks, is reminded that the Dallas Mavericks traded Lu Gonic to the Los Angeles Lakers. It is it is a requirement of all of our shows that we at least once a week. Just seems mean. Yeah. No, no, no. It it it is it is it is done in a very mean way. Um and I made sure that we got it into the NBA squad show um the the the la last week. Um but uh let’s let’s explain where the Magic are at. Um if my math is correct, the Magic enter the off season if you take away all options and don’t include the draft picks around 12 13 11 12 13 million below the luxury tax line. If they retain Mo Vagner, that puts them like right at the tax line, maybe within a million dollars. And then your two and then your two draft picks put you over. Assume at this point that the Magic are a luxury tax team. That doesn’t get into, oh, they’re adding this player that increases their payroll. That doesn’t get into they’re keeping one of their draft picks and that increases their payroll. They’re keeping uh Caleb Houston perhaps. They’re going to be bumping right up against that first apron. Before we get into how the Magic are mechanically going to operate this summer, why is it important for the Magic to stay under the first apron with this team as they’re currently constructed? And what does it mean to be over that apron? Yeah. I’m going to put a one other thing. I want you to just put a pin in this because I want to come back to it. That’s not it. That’s done. Thank god that’s done. Yeah, that’s I I need to remember to send uh Jeff Weldman a I don’t know. I was going to say a bouquet of flowers. You probably don’t want that. Send them a cookie cake or something as a thank you. That that’s off my cap sheet for forever now. Um, no. Put a pin in roster spots. Let’s come back to that later. Um, so, so yeah. So, we’re just strictly talking the apron. The aprons are Yes, you will have franchises. And I’m not accusing the Magic of this. Do you think people have forgotten the Magic paid a good chunk of luxury tax in the Dwight Howard years when they made the finals and never changed things? This will be the first time the Magic are in the tax since Dwice last year if I’m not not mistaken. Look, none of those teams since deserve to be in the tax. Would have been malicious to be paying the tax for Yeah. When uh I always like to bring it up when you and I were sitting there on the last regular game 41 and watching Jody Meeks have a fourth quarter explosion. If you were paying the tax for that team, everyone should have been fired. probably us too for being there even watching that. There’s a lot of basketball as I’ve I’ve had to watch and cover that that probably deserve probably deserved much less coverage than I gave them. Um it’s nice to cover it when it’s fun and they’re good, right? Um so yes, so the apron, there are going to be teams, magic or not, one of them, that are going to use the aprons as an excuse to be cheap. I don’t I don’t put the magic in that bucket. If you start hearing the magic either either directly or through sources with the magic say, you know, things that they’re they’re pretty tight lipped, but they do talk generalities through through folks. If you start hearing like, “Yeah, the apron’s a a limiter.” It’s not about being cheap. It’s the restrictions on what you are able to do building a team. So, let’s say the Magic want to get I’m I’m just again I’m pulling names out of thin air here. Let’s say they’re like, “You know what? Chris Middleton sounds like somebody who could really help us take the next step. Let’s do a sign and trade for Chris Middleton. Say they’re like 25 million first year salary and they’re like, “Okay, Kavius Cwell Pope works. Let’s trade him out for Chris Middleton.” Not saying that’s a good deal, even something that anybody should do, but let’s do that. But you’re taking in a little bit more. You trigger a hard cap at the first apron. You brought in more than 100% of the salary. And then what that does is now you’re limited. A hard cap is a hard cap. Can’t go over it. Excuse me. So, when you get to that position, you’re stuck, right? And now it’s like, all right, now we have this that we have to work around. And that’s when it’s like, hey, why did you guys get rid of Jed Howard for nothing, but we got rid of him because we were stuck under the hard cap. You know, we had to make a move because we needed to bring in a draft pick or we needed to bring in a vet minimum guy. We needed another ball hander, whatever it is. you know, we we we had to do that and that means you we had to give them away and that’s where you just make things harder. Now, let’s take it a step further, right? If you get into a position where you become a second apron team, okay, you’re you’re facing all of the same limitations as a first apron team, but the other thing you’re you’re you’re putting on yourself is now you get into these other things like you’re pretty much you sign your own draft picks, resign your own free agents, you do minimum contracts, that’s it. We won’t get too I don’t want to get too bogged down in the frozen draft picks and draft picks move because that’s a overtime thing. If you dip into the second apron one year let’s say the Magic are like man we are so close to a title next year that they’re like yeah we we we’re not facing a hard cap so we’re going to be we’re going to turn into a second apron team because we could get player Y who’s going to be amazing for us. If you do it one year who cares it doesn’t matter. It’s just at that point you did it. It’s when it’s cumulative. You’re facing what Boston is, Milwaukee was, Phoenix is. Cumulative years, that’s when you’re going to get hit with the really rough draft pick stuff. The other thing here, and I I I will let you talk on your own show. I promise at some point, but with the aprons is when you’re close to the apron, you can’t even do some of the other stuff. So, let’s go back to that Middleton example. If the Chris Middleton deal I threw out there randomly put you over the first apron when you’re done with the deal, can’t even do it because you because you would have triggered a hard cap and you can’t do it. So that’s where that’s where those restrictions become so tight. There’s there’s a window between being a over-the cap team and a tax team. There’s a window between being a tax team and an apron team, but those windows are a lot smaller than people think. And they’re not as simple as, oh well, we have the taxpayer mid-level exception now versus the non- taxpayer, which th those are the worst named things in the world. They also hardcap you, too, if I’m not mistaken. They do. Yeah, you use the first apron hard cap. There is a um I folks can find it on my my Twitter. I’ll probably repin the tweet. Yeah, I have to save it. Yeah, it’s my it’s handy dandy chart. Yeah, people call it the stoplight cheat because it’s red, yellow, and then there’s an orange and a green. Um, and it’s like green is like you’re under the cap. You have no restrictions. Go crazy. Yo, go nuts. Then there’s like yellow is like, yeah, you’re over the cap, but you’re under the under the apron’s a little tough. Then there’s first apron, then there’s second apron. So, you get really in a spot where it’s like, man, we’re really like up against it, and it does just make it very difficult to do a lot of the things you need to do. It just makes life a lot harder. And that’s where when you’re the Magic and you have drafted and developed well in the last, you know, few years when sounds awesome to have all these extra draft picks and it is if they hit, but you do have to eventually resign all of them and then that’s when you run into all this stuff. They’ve kind of got one more year of I’ll say like supreme flexibility because once Paulo’s on and we’re all kind of in agreement barring another injury that caused him to miss miss games he’s not eligible he’s going to be an allNBA guy and when he’s that that’s 35% then you got Suggs is even though like his contract goes down still you know 25% guy Fron’s 25% guy they’re going to be in that range and now all of a sudden we’re like, all right, well, there’s the whole cap, right? And a couple other guys and the draft picks and all that stuff. That’s where the Magic have kind of I don’t want to say run themselves into a bad spot because it’s not like they’ve they’ve they don’t have a single bad contract, which is great, right? You you’re not sitting there with like a Bradley Beal where it’s like, oh gosh, like and they’ve been there before. We’ve done this conversation where it’s like that I don’t know how they’re going to get out of that deal. They’re they’re good with that. But now it’s time to you need to now or we’ve got Paulo Fran Suggs. We’re hoping to build a title contender. You need to start your process now can’t just be we’re all in for next season. They’re not quite that close, but where your process is going to be we’re probably going to have apron concerns. I’ll just say we’re going to be dancing around the aprons over the next few years. So you’re going to start doing some I like to call it now apron management, right? you’re doing some of the things where it is like, “All right, I got to All right, you know, do we really need Jonathan Isaac for 18 minutes a night at $12 million?” Probably not. All right, maybe maybe we that’s the one we can move. Can we Can we plug in Goa and replicate a lot of what Wendell Carter gave us for less money? Maybe. All right, maybe we go that way. And those are the difficult decisions that the front office is going to make. I want to thank Keith Smith once again for joining the show. He does this every year. We always do a kind of season recap. We always do a trade deadline preview with him. I want to I want to again thank him for joining the show. If I’ve done my math correctly, we’re going to have one more episode with Keith. We’ll do that tomorrow. Talk a little bit more about the Magic’s offseason forecast, what tools and challenges they have facing them this coming off season. So, still plenty more to come with Keith Smith. Truly appreciate him giving the time. We always say we’re going to limit ourselves to 30 minutes and then we don’t. So, you probably noticed some of the cuts are really clean and some of them are not because we like to talk. We like to talk magic. We like to talk CBA. We like to talk all that stuff. You can again check out Keith Smith at Keith Smith NBA on Twitter on Twitter as well as I believe on Blue Sky. And you can check out his work at Spotrak. He will be doing the Magic’s offseason preview here pretty soon on spotra.com. You can also check out his show, the front office show. They do a front office Friday mailbag show. great resource to learn more salary cap stuff, learn more about what’s going to go on this summer because if you’re watching the playoffs, it’s gonna be a wild summer. A lot of teams not performing the way that they had hoped. It’s going to be a wild summer. I’m I’m anticipating a very very very very busy summer around the NBA. We will also talk NBA draft lottery if not on tomorrow’s episode then the episode after because obviously once the draft order is set the kind of battle lines for what comes next around the league starts to get set to. So we’re going to talk NBA draft lottery coming up here in in the next in our in the next couple episodes as well. So a lot to get to here. We’ll start diving into draft stuff as well this week. A lot to get to here on Lockdown Magic. Even though the Magic are long done playing, there’s plenty to talk about. Do not worry. We’re still going five days a week. But that’s going to do it for me today. I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Locked on Magic. Of course, find me on Twitter, philipr_omd. Find me on blue sky, phipr. You can subscribe to the podcast, Apple podcast. You’re tuned in Himalaya, Google Play, Spotify, Odyssey, and all the podcast to your podcast enable device. For the latest, you can also find us on YouTube. Search for Lockdown Magic. For the latest on the Orlando Magic, be sure to check out Orlando Magicaily.com. You can find us there on Twitter, OMagic Daily. And for even more Orlando Magic content, be sure to check out my Patreon page, Orlando Magicub, at patreon.com/orlandomagicub. I am doing full like my full like what went right, what went wrong series. I’ll be doing full player evaluations. Those will be starting up pretty soon as well. You can check that out again at patreon.comolandoagichub. As always, thank you for your support. We truly appreciate you making Lockdown Magic your first listen today for your second listen. Check out the locked on NBA game night podcast every game, every night until an NBA champion is crowned. Get local analysis on a national scale for a wild second round here in the NBA playoffs. Find NBA game night on Locked on NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. That’s going to do it for me today though. I want to thank you again for listening to today’s episode of Locked on Magic. Tomorrow’s episode, we’ll finish our conversation with Keith Smith talking a little bit more about what challenges the Magic face this off season specifically and we’ll dive again into the NBA draft lottery. We’ll get to that on tomorrow’s episode of Locked On Magic. But until then, for Orlando Magic Daily and Lockdown Magic, this has been Philip Ross. We’ll see you again next time for another episode of Locked Onic.

The Orlando Magic lost in five games to the Boston Celtics in the first round. But they are not as far from contention as they seem. How can they build their offseason to set themselves up for success? I am joined by Keith Smith of Spotrac for part two of our conversation to preview the offseason as the Magic enter a new realm of competition and deal with the realities of the league’s new CBA.

0:00 Intro: Magic’s playoff loss and future outlook
5:43 Magic’s readiness to make win-now moves
11:02 Understanding the NBA’s first apron implications
20:52 Explaining the Magic’s salary cap situation
24:50 Impact of apron restrictions on team building

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