The Magic have decided to retain point guard Markelle Fultz and veteran wing Gary Harris through their respective salary guarantee dates, reports Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required).
Fultz’s $17MM salary for 2023/24 had only been partially guaranteed for $2MM, while Harris’ $13MM cap hit was non-guaranteed. The Magic had to waive the two players today to avoid fully guaranteeing their ’23/24 salaries, but have apparently opted not to do so.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Fultz started all 60 games he played for the Magic in 2022/23 after being limited to just 26 total appearances across the two prior seasons due to an ACL tear. Fultz enjoyed his best NBA season this past year, establishing new career highs in points (14.0), assists (5.7), and rebounds (3.9) per game while also shooting a career-best 51.4% from the field, including 31.0% on threes.
Harris, meanwhile, appeared in 48 games for Orlando last season, starting 42 of them and averaging 24.7 minutes per night. The 28-year-old made a career-high 43.1% of his three-point attempts, providing some much-needed floor spacing for a Magic team that ranked 25th in the NBA in three-pointers.
With Fultz and Harris on the books for next season, Orlando’s cap flexibility will be reduced. However, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Magic isn’t planning to be a major player on the free agent market anyway.
It sounds like the team will focus on lower-cost free agents rather than trying to make a significant splash. Fischer hears from sources that veteran forward Joe Ingles is one candidate to sign with the Magic on a contract worth more than the minimum.
Kind of surprised they guaranteed Harris’ contract. Given their lack of shooting though I get it. Like that potential Ingles signing
They both deserve it because they played well this past season. It gives them time to be patient with Anthony Black and Jett Howard. Markelle Fultz and Gary Harris backups are likely going to be Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs this upcoming year unless some trades happen. Orlando Magic should be patient this offseason and let Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner further develop this season and see where they at after this season and then go from there. It’s so much young talent over there it’s crazy. I’m interested to see what they do with Jonathan Isaac. Might want to try him out for one more season.
What about Bol Bol? Did Orlando guaranteed Bol Bol contract as well or not? I haven’t heard anything about him yet, I would love to have Bol on the team again.
Joe Ingles really? I think Grant Williams is the perfect fit for Orlando. Williams still very young and can play 3 or 4 in small lineups, he is a tough defender and his three point shooting is very respectable.
What a sad pathetic franchise. Keeping the status quo for another bottom 5 finish.