SHAKEUP: Orlando’s Roster OVERHAUL Begins | Will WAGNER and HOUSTON Return?

SHAKEUP: Orlando’s Roster OVERHAUL Begins | Will WAGNER and HOUSTON Return?

the table is now set for free agency the Orlando Magic have made their big decisions they have set themselves up what happens next the free agents to know and where the Magic stand 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 June 29th it will be June 30th 2025 happy NBA New Year’s Eve as the calendar flips over to the 2026 season on at 6 PM June 30th but really on July 1st is the beginning of the new calendar year my name is Philip Ross Reich i’m the senior writer over at Orlando Magicaily.com you can of course find me on Twitter at Philip R_OMD and on Blue SkyrR uh I am a credential member of the media covering the Orlando Magic since the 2012 season on today’s episode of Lockdown Magic we’re going to set the table for free agency we’re going to set the table let you know where the Magic stand who the Magic are going to target and what the cost was to get there we’re going to address the decisions to decline the team options for Mov Caleb Houston why they should still come back and why the Magic had to do it we’re going to get to all that have your pencil and papers ready we’re going to do a little bit of math we’re going to get to all that coming up here in just a moment but first we want to thank you again for making lockdown magic part of your day every day no matter when you listen to us whether it’s first thing in the morning whether it’s right when we upload we truly appreciate you making Lockdown Magic part of your day every day you can find a great Locked On podcast covering every single team in the NBA every little free agent morsel and tidbit you can find on the Locked On podcast network your team every day today’s episode of Locked On Magic is also brought to you by FanDuel right now new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins we’re going to start here with the news of the day and June 30th June 29th is deadline day for a lot of team options and just kind of setting the table for free agency which begins Monday June 30th at 6 PM Eastern time so we will I’m not doing a live show it’s not big enough for me to do a live show follow me on my social channels i’ll have plenty to say about um about whatever the magic do in free agency i’ll do a quick minute reaction on the YouTube channel uh as well as on social medias when that when that decision or when that thing happens and then we’ll break it all down at the end of the day um toward the evening toward the later evening part stuff may still trickle in i’m probably going to be checking my phone throughout this episode because we got the Jabari Smith extension i am expecting a Paulo extension at some point tomorrow if not today we’re going to get to all that tomorrow so don’t worry i will have you covered just buckle up i’ll be around talk to me ask me questions all that stuff we’ll get we’ll get to all of it uh but before we could get to free agency we had to set the table and I’ll talk a little bit more specifically about the cap situation in in the second segment of the show but in order for the Magic to have any chance of playing in free agency they had to make these two critical decisions today on Sunday on June 29th they had to decide whether to pick up or decline the team options for Mo Vagner and Caleb Houston now the math again I warned you there would be some math and I’m I’m just going to do my kind of back of napkin math back of napkin addition and subtraction so these numbers are roughly the numbers I’m going to give you today are roughly correct i’m trying you know we’re I’m a visual medium i don’t have a a blackboard i’m not like going to dive like into like oh the magic have $182.75 million to spend no I’m not going to do any of that that’s that’s too much in the weeds i just want to give you the perspective of why this stuff is happening and what it means for the team moving forward but essentially comes down to this if the Orlando Magic wanted access to either the non-taxpayer mid-level exception which is $14.1 million or the taxpayer mid-level exception of $5.7 million the Magic had to decline the team option on Mo Vagner the team option for Mo Vagner $11 million without that the Magic were roughly two maybe $3 million under the first apron and you cannot use either mid-level exception if using that mid-level exception takes you over the first apron all of this is confusing it’s all cap stuff we’re going to get to that in the second half in the second part of the show i’ll try my best to explain it um it is far more complicated than it needs to be but essentially there is no free agency for the Magic without declining these team options for both Mo Vagner and Caleb Houston essentially what the Magic did was they maximized their flexibility they maximized their ability to add new players to remain aggressive and to go after new players to boost this roster i think I’ve been pretty clear on this the Orlando Magic are much better now than they were last year adding Desmond Bane gives them a much a much much better team and a much much better player than a lot of us were thinking you know just look at what Anthony Simons and Colin Son went for very clearly they’re not valued around the league the same way fans kind of value but so the Magic had to do this just to get in the game because the Magic are over the salary cap the Magic do not have any way to add players except through these exceptions to the salary cap one of those exceptions is the bird rights exception you’re always allowed to resign your own players the Magic can resign Mov and Caleb Houston except in one instance which I will get to in our second segment still it stinks that this is a cap mechanic the Magic have to use the fact that the Magic had to use this cap mechanic two straight seasons with Mo Vagner that is that it’s an unfortunate side effect of this business it’s an unfortunate side effect of the way these rules are set up and I know just judging by the way Mo was acting during the Vagger Brothers documentary which captured him in free agency twice because he was a free agent in the summer of 2023 he signed a new co he signed a new contract a two-year deal had a team option on the second year team option got declined so the Magic could maximize their cap room because you can always sign your own free agents to go over the cap um once you’re over the cap um so that made sense magic signed me to another two-year deal with the team option in the second year obviously they’ve declined that team option now let’s make this very very clear because I saw a lot of Magic fans worrying about this all indications are the Magic will bring Mo Vagner back mo Vagner is a super super super important player to this team he matters a lot he g he’s obviously a huge scoreer offer off the bench the Magics scoring off the bench went from fifth in the league 40 points per game to 21st in the league 33.3 points per game after Mo Vagner’s injury now obviously some that not all of that can be attributed to Mo but the fact of the matter is Mo Vagner was the fourth leading scoreer on the team he averaged a careerhigh of 12 and a half points per game shot the ball well shot 36% from three he gives this team an edge an attitude a swagger a swagner if you if you will um he gives this team a lot of intangible things he may not be perfect he may not be the defensive center of the Magic the Magic should never start him they will need a third center who can start regardless and that’s been Goabat um when Gwendo Carter is out but Mo Vagner has been everything this Magic team could hope for more has been the the embodiment of what this team’s culture is and and the like one of the biggest success stories the the biggest success story in this Magic franchise and in this Magic project that they’ve been doing over the last three years he came to this team and I will admit those like 10 games that he played at the end of his first season in Orlando I was like “This guy can’t play.” Like he’s you know just kind of all over the place and he found a way to make himself work in this defense and he’s added so much to his game offensively mo Vagner is not here because he is France Vagner’s brother i I honestly I will admit this i largely suspect the Magic signed Mo Vagner to begin doing some homework on France mo Vagner is a great player in his own right he is not defined by his brother nor should he be um he is a great player and an essential player for this Magic team it is hard for me to believe the Magic will let him walk or will not find a way to get him back as I will mention there are restrictions there are things to worry about we’re going to get to that in a minute caleb Houston honestly is very much the same way i expect the Magic to bring Caleb Houston back as well caleb Houston had an incredible run to end last season i know he didn’t have the playoffs everybody wanted he really struggled in the playoffs not going to deny that but he was as essential as any player during that 18game run for the Magic to make the to make the playand tournament to win the division and eventually make the playoffs he shot 50% from three after the All-Star break and I’m sorry the Magic team that is the worst three-point shooting team in the league cannot simply give up on players who can make threes now Caleb Houston might still you know and right now there’s an opening on the wings we’ll maybe get to that in a minute here there’s an opening for that backup three spot caleb Houston has been the spot starter for a long time he could easily slide into that it’s all a risk and again we’ll get to free agents at the end of the show here but the Magic should feel like both of these guys are extremely valuable to them they know their system they know who they are they know what this team is about and I see no reason why the Magic wouldn’t do just about everything they can to bring them back what this move is what giving up these two what declining the team options because they’ve not given up on these two players they hold their bird rights they can resign them while they’re over the cap what this is about is about flexibility it is about being able to do as much as you can in free agency so before we get to free agency and the players the Magic are likely targeting let’s recap the Magic’s cap situation let’s recap what tools the Magic have at their disposal and the restrictions they’re facing we’re going to get to that coming up here in just a moment but first today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is brought to my friends over at Fandal summer sports are in full swing and whether you’re all about baseball under the lights golf on the green or high stakes soccer action like the Gold Club which I’m turning over my shoulder to check US up 2-1 in the 52nd minute awesome you’re FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting you’re already following the action why not make it a little more thrilling with FanDuel you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach no one wants that fanduel is the best way to track your favorite matchups the app keeps it fresh with new daily promotions and fun ways to bet it’s easy to use fast to pay out and makes even regular season games feel like mustwatch events whether you’re placing a singame parlay or watching a bet right into the ninth inning FanDuel makes it feel like you are part of the action if you’re new to FanDuel new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins open the FanDuel app today or visit fanuel.com to get started i am like I like I mentioned earlier I am not going to dive like fully into the details here i’m not going to give you like the exact amounts and all this stuff this is all back of napkin math um this is all kind of back of napkin shorthand that I’ve been using to to make sure I explain to everybody what options the Magic have we before we could talk about which free agents the Magic are targeting and what they can accomplish we have to know the tools they have in the tool chest we have to know what they have available and what they’re going to be able what they’re going to be able to do uh this this off seasonason um this is the problem this is the issue um let’s start here then the first thing to know the Orlando Magic are over the salary cap they have zero cap route now there are the way this works is the NBA operates on a soft cap which means you’re allowed to go over the cap using certain exceptions the bird rights exception bird rights just means you’re signing your own free agents if you have a player under contract for three years it is transferable via trade but if you have a player under contract for three straight years you own their bird rights so Cavius Cwell Pope the Magic did not have his bird rights he was only under contract for one year memphis Grizzlies if he declines player option for some reason will not hold his bird rights they cannot go over the cap to resign him they can use early bird rights which is a whole different thing we don’t need to get into the weeds of that so when I say that the Magic can still resign Mo Vagner and Caleb Houston it’s because they own their bird rights you are always allowed to resign your own free agents get that out of the way early the one of the bigger exceptions to the salary cap is what’s known as the midlevel exception um before we can talk about the mid-level exception then let’s talk about the aprons and the apron restrictions um because they play a role in how you use the mid-level exception under the last CBA and it was really the concept of the apron existed before this new CBA but the new CBA redefined the redefined aprons um if you are a certain amount over the luxury tax so you have about a 15 to20 million wiggle room between the salary cap and the luxury tax and then maybe another 10 million or so before you hit the first statement um the first under the new new CBA the league try is trying to reduce spending and reduce kind of like runaway spending if you’re over this amount called the first apron you start having these restrictions and the biggest restriction is you can’t send out more money in a trade than you get back in um the second apron is a a further restriction that was added on we’ll talk about that next offseason today is not the day to talk about the second apron just know this the Orlando Magic are hardcapped at the second apron because they aggregated players in a trade they traded two players for one Davis Kop and Cole Anthony for uh Desmond Bane the Magic cannot under any circumstances exceed the second apron that should not be a concern this year now why is the first apron important in order to use the mid-level exceptions you can or the mid-level exception you can only use one um in order to use the mid-level exception you cannot exceed the first apron with the mid-level exception this is a mechanical thing so like the Magic can sign Moager and Caleb Houston but that is most likely the last thing they’re going to do here’s the Magic situation then by my back of napkin math once the Magic declined Mo Vagner and Caleb Houston’s contracts their contract options the Magic are about $18 million under the first statement so they did a good job there in fact they’re I think $10 million roughly $10 million under the luxury tax so they’re in good shape again they would not be under the luxury tax without declining the option for Mo Vagner being under the tax gives you the access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception the non-taxpayer mid-level exception is a contract or set of contracts worth up to $14.1 million now you still have to pay taxes if you go over the tax line you still have to pay the taxes on that but this is a this is an exception that allows you to sign players up to $14.1 million over uh $14.1 million when you’re over the salary cap it’s a great tool to have and now the Magic have that can avail themselves of that tool because of what they did on Sunday declining the team option for Mo Vagner and um and Caleb Houston this is where things get tricky if you use the non-t taxpayer mid-le exception of 14.1 million or any if you use more than the if you if you use more than the taxpayer midle so there’s two levels to the mid-le exception is non- taxpayer and then there’s a taxpayer mid-level exception of $5.7 million if you spend more than $5.7 million using the mid-level exception you are hardcapped at the first apron so all those great players that you’re thinking about right now it’s like oh we could get him for $14 million you know go after Alexander Walker that’s been the big rumor for the Magic not quite so let’s go back to our back of napkin math the magic about $18 million under the under the first apron after declining these options well approximately again these are all approximate numbers i’m trying to use whole numbers to just make it crystal clear approximately $3 million goes to Jace Richardson now you’re down to $15 million approximately and it’s a little bit less than this but approximately $2 million is going to No Appenda that gets you down to $13 million the Magic will not have access to the full non- taxpayer mid-level exception um will not have access to the full non- taxpayer mid-le exception unless they make a trade somewhere to free up some cash because you are hardcapped at the first apron now the other important thing to remember and this is why I do not think the Magic are going to use the non- taxpayer mid-le exception is when you are hardcapped that is a hard cap no exceptions so if the Magic go out and use the whole non- taxpayer mid-level exception $13 million on one player they don’t have the ability to add back Mo Vagner and Caleb Houston and they got to sit there with two open roster spots and once a hard cap is triggered it doesn’t get untriggered by anything until the end of the year so the Magic would be stuck at the first apron stuck card capped at the first apron and essentially would not be able to do any trades unless they reduce payroll and again no because they they wouldn’t even be a first apron T the Magic still want to pay Moer like he might take a little he’s probably not gonna get $11 million but he’s still going to get some money and so event so ultimately as you’re looking at like well who are the Magic going to add what are they going to do here what are they going to do there ultimately when you look at that you have to sit there and think you have to sit there and think the Magic can’t bring back Bo Mo Vagner and get a player of significance and they shouldn’t have to make that choice either that’s why I think it’s more likely the Magic to use the taxpayer middle-le exception the taxpayer mid-level exception is a contract a set of contracts worth up to $5.7 million again you can’t go over the first apron using that exception you can sign your bird rights players after after you’re done using the mid-level exception because you’re over the cap it doesn’t you know cap holds don’t mean anything anymore um because you’re not it’s not a placeholder for open salary cap open salary cap to retain players um the Magic can the Magic can use the full taxpayer middle of exception and be perfectly fine the taxpayer middle level of exception hard cap you the second apron which the Magic are hardcapped at already anyway so I think the Magic spending is very very limited on top of that if you’re bringing back Mo Vagner and Caleb P you only have one roster spot open anyway so essentially unless a trade is in the works to free up a roster spot or free up some more cash the Magic are looking at using the taxpayer middle level exception $5.7 million so who is out there that the Magic can use it on surprisingly I think they can get some quality players i think they could get some players that can help but it’s still going to raise some questions moving forward we’ll get to the free agent targets to know as free agency begins coming up here in just a moment i threw a lot of numbers at you that last segment so I apologize i I I I promised you there would be no math i tried to use use whole numbers basic back of napkin math stuff like you know there there are more details you can go listen to to our friend Keith Smith of Spotra on his show about some of those details bobby Marks has a great chart that ex that explains a lot of this um there’s a few other good charts out there um but let’s let’s just put it this way the Magic have what the Magic did on Sunday was maximize their flexibility to add new players in free agency now the best way to continue maximizing that and retain the two players you care about Moagner and Caleb Houston is to use the taxpayer mid-level exception worth $5.7 million now you might be asking yourself what are the quality of players that you’re going to actually get for $5.7 million that’s a good question um it’ll be interesting to see how quickly money dries up there are not a lot of teams with money in this free agency not a lot of cap room to spend we’ve obviously seen a lot of big names kind of take themselves off the board already uh LeBron James has opted into his player option james Harden declined his player option signed a new contract with the Clippers anyway um it’s looking like there’ll be a little bit of a bidding war for Dale Alexander Walker between the Pistons and the Hawks magic probably tapped out of that because again they can’t they’re really stuck on how much they could offer any player of that magnitude and so the question is who is there out there uh both uh uh now our friend Eric Pinkis of Bleacher Bleacher Report um did his kind of mock offseason and pitched Taius Jones at two years $12 million little bit richer than I think the Magic would like but doable under the taxpayer mid-level exception bobby Marx of ESPN has also pitched Tyus Jones on like I think a two-year $10 million contract and so it does seem like there is at least some wave and again some of it’s just it’s all fan speculation and it’s all reporter speculation it does kind of seem like Taius Jones is back on the table now we did a whole episode on Tus Jones last year when the Magic were considering him as a free agent option and I like I think that there is a potential and obvious fit there the Magic need a point guard corey Joseph worked wonders for this team last year all loved to Corey Joseph our guy Magic legend forever having a true point guard who can kind of manage the team be a spot starter would be excellent for this team put him next to Anthony Black probably too small to play too often next to Jace Richardson um but put him next to Anthony Black he’s kind of what you want Jayce Richardson to become anyway ty Jones not nearly as athletic not nearly as good of a finisher um but an excellent three-point shooter low mistake low turnover player gonna get you a lot of assist he’s going to fill a stat sheet but Tai Jones is small uh we mentioned this when we did the episode last year defensively doesn’t seem like a huge negative in the right role as a starter does not work defensively maybe off the bench does you pair him next to again pair him next to bigger players like Anthony Black Jaylen Suggs Desmond Bane he’s good friends with Desmond Bane from the time his time with Memphis there might be something there um it’s a stop gap option it’s because you need a point guard you need a true guard he’s he’s efficient he’s efficient enough is he gonna get you over the top i don’t know i would what I’ve been kind of going on with people this this this past 24 hours or so past day or so i’ve kind of landed with Taius Jones the same place I landed with Anthony Simons whenever people would ask me about Anthony Simons I would you know like obviously I did a move for him i made the decision that yeah it was worth worth going for him now in the locked on mock draft Desmond Bane was the right choice by the way um I kind of feel like if Taius Jones was going to be on the Magic he would have he would be on the Magic already i I just kind of feel like the Magic he’s been on the radar for fans and like dot connectors for a long time and the fact that he hasn’t been on the team yet suggests to me the Magic just don’t like him or the Magic just don’t see him as a fit for what they’re trying to do um that is that’s that is the that’s the thing like you know and look I don’t I I think it’s possible i I think he’s definitely you know he was on a minimum contract with Phoenix last year he played okay not great he never started even though Phoenix was desperate for a point guard he paid okay he does he does his thing he’s got to average 10 11 points per game he’s going to make two threes he’s going to not turn the ball over he’s going to get you four or five assists in whatever minutes you give him um is he gonna get picked on defensively in the playoffs sure magic survived with Cole Anthony there he’s probably a more consistent more steady version of that um he would be directly in the way of Jace Richardson but I think the Magic’s need for a lead guard might be a little bit more important there are plenty of other options though and that’s what’s fun about the taxpayer mid-le exception uh Gary Trent Jr has been a name that’s been listed and and posited out there for a long time for this match again same kind of deal i’m not sure how interested the Magic are but a lot of his shortcomings were that contract was just really rich last year he was on a minimum contract with Milwaukee he shot 40% from three had some big shooting games in the playoffs he’s a playoff experience player for a Magic team that needs some bench shooting and needs some bench scoring Gary Trent Jr would fit the bill he would be an excellent I mean the Magic need more shooting they need more quality shooting they need more gravity shooting they need more movement shooting they need guys who can go off on occasion gary Trent Jr can do that still now the question is when does age become a factor and I think another factor in what the Magic are looking to do is they essentially only have this tool this year so like I mentioned all that all the stuff about the mid-level exception and stuff the Magic are going to be over the second apron next year i promise I wouldn’t talk too much about the second apron but the Magic could be over the second apron in 2027 they do not have the mid-level exception next year this is kind of their last chance in you know again barring massive changes to the payroll and roster this is going to be one of their last chances for the next two or three seasons to go out and get impact free agents like this and again we’re still only talking about Tyus Jones minimum last year gary Trent Jr minimum last year we’re only we’re still only talking about a specific subset of players and so my suspicion is the Magic want to get a player that’s going to be on a two or three year contract so when they are really capped out when they really don’t have the ability to move guys around they can just swap salaries with teams like you have a $5 million player we have a $5 million player we’ll just swap swap players or we have a five you know they can’t take on more money than they give out so the guy that I’m actually most intrigued by is Trey Jones uh who I believe is related to Taius Jones trey Jones is very very similar to his brother a little bit on the small side good defender good playmaker not a high mistake player not nearly the shooter that Taius is um had a good shooting stretch to end last season with Chicago though but has a little bit more to go he’s a little bit bigger he’s bigger than Tyus which I think helps and he’s a little more defensive minded and so I think that fits the team’s identity and style i would be taking a look at him i have him on my radar i think the Magic probably ultimately go with Tyus Jones get that point guard in there again I I think that does butt into Jace Richardson’s development a little bit but you know again rookie how much can you trust a rookie how much should you be trusting a rookie then again I think a wing score is more important right now just because how much should you be trusting Tristan Dilva at some place the Magic gonna put some tension on this team and at some place the Mags are gonna put some pressure on a young guy to step up to the plate and that’s going to be the way this roster is constructed for a little bit now there are still trade opportunities to come and it would not shock me entirely if there are is a potential for Jonathan Isaac or Goa Batz trade uh here before the season begins um the more you like I mentioned all these like restrictions and how you’re bumping up against the apron and and all these things my mind keeps going back to Jonathan Isaac is an elite player he should have some value they got to get more for $15 million and he’ll be a $15 million contract on on Monday night Tuesday Tuesday morning um instead of 25 like he was last year um there’s got to be a way to get more especially more offensive production from that spot and we’ll talk about this more in the offseason because it is a thought experiment worth having it definitely it it definitely dawned on a lot of people that Noah Penda is kind of a Jonathan Isaac like player just a defensive ace with offensive potential though a penda at $2 million doing that role is a lot more value than Jonathan Isaac at $15 million struggling to shoot and and struggling a little bit and again we’ll see i I don’t think the Magic are going to trade Jonathan Isaac and there I don’t think they’re going to trade Goget at this point until they until they see where Movager’s at and what they do with Mo Vagner um but they’re definitely on the table i I I I honestly I think the potential for a Goa Batz trade is better left at the trade deadline just because then the Magic know what they need and they they can look at their roster and say “Oh we need this to get to the second round to get to the conference finals to be a championship team and then they can go out and make that happen.” Um again maybe that’s Jonathan Isaac too so maybe they hold off on trades for that purpose um but it does feel like we’re inevitably working our way there and right now the Magic’s bench is just too young like God bless them they’re all nice interesting young players it’s about consistency and while I think that like a Jaylen I I think one one if not two of the Magic’s four main players will be on the floor at all times this year again if Jamal Mosley has any lineup when they’re all healthy without Jaylen Suggs Desmond Bane Palo Beno Fran Vagner with at least one of them on the floor if not both two of them on the floor if there’s any lineups without them that’s malpractice like especially looking at this team they just don’t have enough scorers and the guys we’re looking at are shooters so get this team more shooting have constant shooting threats and you have four guys that can put tension on defense off the dribble through pick and rolls through just talent and see what happens and see how how they build on that um the magic very very clearly in declining Mo and Caleb’s contracts are signaling they’re going to do something in free agency the over the next few days the Magic will do something again their tools are very very limited um they they’ll they’ll be able to bring back Mo and Caleb but they got to first figure out free agency and what they’re spending and who they’re spending it on before they move forward um but the Magic can do stuff like they they can do things uh and we’ll see exactly what they add and and what this team’s going to look like as we look ahead to the fall and the start of the season so an exciting time free agency is always a lot of fun so we will see what the Magic end up doing tomorrow like I said follow me everywhere to to get the latest on the Magic on Monday but that’s gonna do it for me today i want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Lockdown Magic sorry if I confused you with CBA Talk it’s confusing it confuses everyone it confuses me a lot uh Keith helps me out a lot answers a lot of my questions it is a It is a complicated thing i didn’t even get into sign and trades which I don’t think the Magic can do if I read the CBA correctly i don’t think you can use the mid-level exception to acquire players via sign and trade and the Magic don’t have cap room so they can’t do it that way either it’s a mess it’s it’s it’s a mess it’s it’s it’s a mess but that’s going to do for me today i want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Locked on Magic you can course follow me on Twitter philipr_omd and on blue sky phipr you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcast stitch your tune in on Google Play Odyssey and all download podcast to your podcast enabled listening device for the latest on the Orlando Magic be sure to check out my Be sure to check out Orlando Magicaily.com you can find us on Twitter don’t forget to subscribe to Lockdown Magic on YouTube as well as if all that’s not enough posted for free and I will pin it to the top but posted for free on my Patreon page i have my uh year evaluation of Jeff Welman as the Magic Prepare for free agency how do I think Jeff Welman handled last year not well but I I I bumped his grade up because of the Desmond Bane trade you can read that for free on my Patreon page Orlando Magicub at patreon.com/orlandomagicub as always thank you for your support now that you’re done listening to me get ready for free agency with locked on NBA make that your second listen because there is no offseason doug Matt and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations rumors and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan find Locked on NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts all part of Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day once again that’s going to do it for me today i want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Lockdown Magic on tomorrow’s episode of Lockdown Magic we will we will chat about the first day of free agency probably about Paulo’s new extension and so much more we’ll see what happens i’ll talk to you all then until tomorrow for Orlando Magic Daily and Locked on Magic this has been Philip Rosman we’ll see you all again next time for another episode of Locked On Magic

Free agency has arrived for the Orlando Magic as they made their move to maximize their flexibility and give themselves the best chance to add the last key player to reach contention.

The team declined team options for Moe Wagner and Caleb Houstan to create this flexibility and allow them to access the mid-level exception. But the Magic should still want to bring back Wagner and Houstan to the roster.

That desire already limits what the Magic can do as free agency begins Monday. How does it? I explain the limitations created by the non-taxpayer and taxpayer mid-level exception and what the Magic are looking to get. And who the Magic might target as free agency begins.

0:00 Intro: Setting the table for free agency
5:46 Magic decline Wagner and Houston’s options
11:51 Explaining the NBA salary cap and exceptions
17:33 Magic’s limited spending options for free agency
22:10 Potential free agent targets for the Magic
28:48 Possibility of trades involving Isaac or Bitadze

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Gametime
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