Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Marjanovic, NBA Cup, Under-25s, FAs, Collins

December 12th, 2025 at 1:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA center Boban Marjanovic has signed with KK Ilirija, the Slovenian team announced in a press release.

Marjanovic, 37, made his NBA debut with San Antonio in 2015 and spent nine seasons in the league, appearing in 331 total regular season games for the Spurs, Pistons, Clippers, Sixers, Mavericks, and Rockets. After playing for Houston in 2023/24, he split last season between Fenerbahce in Turkey and the Zhejiang Lions in China.

Marjanovic’s new team competes in Slovenia’s domestic league and the ABA League, but isn’t part of the EuroLeague.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

How do players and coaches around the league feel about the NBA Cup? Most of the ones who spoke to The Athletic’s staff about the tournament offered positive feedback, with Bucks head coach Doc Rivers referring to it as “a benefit” for the league, while Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch called it a “perfect shot in the arm” for the first half of the season. “I think everybody’s taking it pretty serious, with what the stakes are, what the rewards are,” said Stephon Castle, whose Spurs advanced to the semifinals. “And again, being able to play in big-time games, it just amplifies the regular season a little bit.”
Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama took the No. 1 spot in ESPN’s list of the top 25 players under 25 years old, just ahead of Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards and Detroit guard Cade Cunningham. San Antonio, which also has Castle and Dylan Harper in the top 25, is one of four teams with three players on the list, along with the Rockets, Pistons, and Magic.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report ranks the top 20 free agents currently on the market, with Malik Beasley, Ben Simmons, and Tristen Newton leading the way. Newton has only played 16 total minutes in eight NBA appearances, but he’s averaging 26.3 points and 8.1 assists per game in the G League this fall.
Former NBA center Jason Collins, whose family announced in September that he was being treated for a brain tumor, has revealed that he has Stage 4 glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. Collins, who told his story via Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, said the average prognosis for his condition is just 11 to 14 months.

Magic Notes: F. Wagner, M. Wagner, Banchero, Bane

December 10th, 2025 at 9:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Wagner brothers are both sidelined with injuries, but they were able to distribute Christmas gifts to children from an Orlando area youth center on Wednesday, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Speaking to the media for the first time since suffering a high left ankle sprain in Sunday’s game at New York, Franz Wagner expressed relief that the injury wasn’t worse and called it “just a little bump in the road in the grand scheme of things.” Expected to be out of action for two-to-four weeks, he wore a boot on his left foot and had to use crutches to move around at the event.

“Kind of mixed feelings,” he said. “Super relieved, but at the same time, bummed that I’m going to be out for a couple weeks. Definitely caught a break there a little bit and I’m blessed that it’s just a high ankle sprain.

Moritz Wagner is nearing the one-year anniversary of the ACL tear in his left knee that he suffered last December 21. He’s continuing to do rehab work and expressed hope that he’ll be able to return sometime soon.

“I’m doing really good,” he said. “I’m feeling really good about where I’m at, finding the joy again of playing basketball and enjoying the process a little more.”

There’s more from Orlando:

Coach Jamahl Mosley has plenty of experience in surviving without one of his star forwards, Beede notes in a separate story. Paolo Banchero just returned Friday after missing 10 games with a groin strain, and Franz Wagner suffered a torn abdominal muscle last season that sidelined him for 20 games. “You always lean on the things that have happened in the past a little bit to take that experience,” Mosley said. “But we’ve got to learn from it. What are we going to do? And how are we going to play? You don’t want to see anybody go down, but we talked about our depth and our defense being our strong suits, so our guys are going to have to step up to the plate, depending on how long guys are out for.”
Banchero remained on a minutes restriction for Tuesday’s NBA Cup win over Miami, Beede tweets. He played 32 minutes and finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Desmond Bane has brought a “dawg mentality” to the Magic with his competitive nature, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Bane scored 37 points in Tuesday’s victory, marking the third time in the past six games that he’s reached that figure. “(We) understood that we had to get back to our identity: smash-mouth basketball on both sides of the floor,” he said. “Once we started playing that way, everything started turning for us. We just rode that trend all the way through.”
Bane and his teammates will receive a financial bonus for advancing to the NBA Cup semifinals, and he joked, “I just lost $35,000. I gotta go get it back somehow” (Twitter video link from Underdog NBA), referring to the fine he received for throwing the ball at OG Anunoby on Sunday.

Magic, Knicks Advance To Cup Semifinals

December 9th, 2025 at 10:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Magic and Knicks advanced to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas with victories on Tuesday. They’ll face each other in the East semifinal on Saturday at 5:30 ET, the league confirmed (via Twitter).

Orlando was carried by a big outing from offseason acquisition Desmond Bane. He scored 37 points, while Jalen Suggs added 20 points and Paolo Banchero supplied 18. The Magic trailed by 13 after the first quarter, pulled within one by halftime, then outscored Miami 61-51 in the second half.

The Heat had four starters with at least 19 points, led by Norman Powell‘s 21.

The Knicks moved on with a 117-101 win over the Raptors. Jalen Brunson was the star of the game with 35 points. Josh Hart contributed 21 points and Karl-Anthony Towns tossed in 14 with 16 rebounds. Brandon Ingram led the Raptors with 31 points.

New York took control in the second quarter, outscoring Toronto 34-13.

The teams that were eliminated on Tuesday will now play each other on Monday, as the Heat will host the Raptors at 7:30 ET, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets.

The Suns and Thunder will square off in the first of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday, with the Lakers and Spurs playing in the late game. The winners of those two contests will face one another in the West semifinal on Saturday.

Magic’s Desmond Bane Fined $35K By NBA

December 8th, 2025 at 7:04pm CST by Rory Maher

Magic guard Desmond Bane has been fined $35K for throwing the game ball at Knicks forward OG Anunoby with force and in an “unsportsmanlike manner” the NBA announced today (via Twitter).

Bane was assessed a technical foul for the incident, which occurred with 6:13 remaining in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s contest in New York (YouTube link). Orlando lost the game by six points.

After an errant pass from Jalen Suggs was stolen by Mikal Bridges, Anunoby and Anthony Black raced down the court in a fast-break opportunity for New York. Black tried to intercept Bridges’ pass to Anunoby but still caught up to the play, stripping the ball from Anunoby, who fell out of bounds.

Bane, who was trailing the action, collected the ball easily while in-bounds and instead of turning around to go to the offensive end, decided to wind up and throw the ball off Anunoby. It the play was ruled a hostile act by Bane, resulting in the technical, though the Magic retained possession since Anunoby was out of bounds.

It was an odd incident, and not the first time Bane has thrown the ball off an opponent this season. The 27-year-old was ejected from a November 4 game at Atlanta after receiving a flagrant 1 foul and a technical for pulling down Onyeka Okongwu on a fast break and spiking the ball off him when Okongwu lost possession (YouTube link).

Bane is earning $36.7MM this season as part of a lucrative long-term contract, so the fine won’t impact him much financially.

Magic’s Franz Wagner Has High Ankle Sprain

December 8th, 2025 at 2:45pm CST by Rory Maher

December 8: Wagner has a high left ankle sprain, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. According to Charania, an MRI conducted on Monday showed no structural damage on his left leg, and the Magic forward is expected to be out two-to-four weeks.

December 7: Star forward Franz Wagner appeared to suffer a significant injury in the first quarter of Sunday’s matinee game in New York, tweets James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.

According to the Magic (Twitter link), Wagner has a lower left leg injury and will miss the remainder of Sunday’s contest. He will be reevaluated when the team returns to Orlando.

The injury occurred on a fast break (YouTube link). After poking the ball away from Jalen Brunson, Wagner was the first player down the court and positioned himself near the basket. Teammate Anthony Black threw up an alley-oop attempt for Wagner, but Knicks big man Ariel Hukporti swatted the pass away, fouling Wagner in the process. Wagner fell awkwardly and immediately grabbed his left knee in pain.

Hukporti, a fellow German, clearly felt badly about Wagner’s injury and checked in with him. After staying down on the floor for an extended period, Wagner was helped off the court by older brother Moritz Wagner and rookie Noah Penda. He was unable to put weight on his left leg.

It’s a potentially devastating development for the Magic, who just got Paolo Banchero back from a groin strain on Friday. Wagner was off to a terrific start to the season, averaging 23.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals on .487/.354/.823 shooting through 23 games (34.5 minutes per contest).

Wagner, who has been wearing a face mask after breaking his nose in November, was nominated for the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month award for October/November.

Money Helps Motivate Players For NBA Cup

December 8th, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Money is a huge motivator for the Heat and Magic as they prepare to square off Tuesday in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscription required). Players with standard contracts on the eight teams that have advanced to the knockout round have already earned an additional $53,093, and the rewards rise to $106,187 for reaching the semifinals, $212,373 for the finals and $530,933 for winning the tournament. “I think that’s kind of why they did it, for us to just buy into it a little bit more,” Miami guard Dru Smith said. “But also I think anytime you have a chance early in the season to really go and compete for something, even though it’s just a one-game series, basically, win or go home. Just to really have a chance to get a playoff feel this early, with the team, we were looking forward to that, coming into the season. I think it’s just something that will be really beneficial.”
Knicks players were upset after Magic guard Desmond Bane fired the ball at OG Anunoby, who had fallen out of bounds, in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game (YouTube link), relays Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Bane received a technical foul and was subsequently booed by New York fans every time he touched the ball. Anunoby shoved Bane after the incident, but he decided not to escalate the situation. “I was confused at first, then it was funny,” he said. “I like Desmond. … He’s a good dude.”

Southeast Notes: Banchero, Herro, Whitmore, Ball

December 6th, 2025 at 9:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

Paolo Banchero was limited to 20 minutes as he returned to the court Friday after missing 10 games with a left groin strain, but he was able to do just enough to help the Magic claim a one-point win over Miami, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Banchero, who finished with nine points, six rebounds and two assists, said he’ll need time to work his way back into playing shape.

“It’s going to take a couple of games,” he said. “My first two shots went in, so that was a good feeling. My shot feels decent. I think it’s going to take a few games, but I was just excited to be out there with the guys and get a win.”

Banchero returns at a good time for the surging Magic, who have won seven of their last 10 games and moved into a tie for fourth place in the East. He’s looking forward to a higher-stakes rematch with the Heat when the teams meet in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup tournament.

“(Friday) was a pretty ugly game for the most part,” Banchero said, “but just being able to find a way to win against a good team, we’re going to see them again Tuesday so we’re going to have to make the adjustments, see what we could have done better and come out and try to get another one against them.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

An MRI conducted Saturday showed that the toe irritation that prevented Tyler Herro from playing on Friday is being caused by a contusion, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (subscription required). He was held out of the Heat’s game tonight against Sacramento, but it’s not expected to be a long-term injury. “I know about as much as y’all,” Herro told reporters on Friday. “I’m just day by day right now. Not really too sure what happened. I got a little soreness in my big toe. Obviously, I got kicked in like the first quarter the other night in the back of my calf. And then I woke up and my big toe was hurting.”
Wizards forward Cam Whitmore didn’t play on Saturday, and coach Brian Keefe indicated the decision was disciplinary rather than being related an illness that had Whitmore listed as questionable, per Varun Shankar of The Washington Post (Twitter link). “We have certain standards that we have for our team,” Keefe said. “He has to live up to those on the better. And he’ll have a chance here, but that’s gonna be up to him when that time comes.”
Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball has been diagnosed with a bone bruise on his left ankle that will force him to miss Sunday’s matchup against Denver, relays Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). Ball was unable to finish Friday’s game due to soreness in the ankle.

Paolo Banchero Cleared To Return For Magic

December 5th, 2025 at 10:42am CST by Luke Adams

Magic forward Paolo Banchero has been upgraded to available for Friday’s game vs. Miami, the team announced today (via Twitter). It will be the first time Banchero has played since November 12.

Banchero, who has missed Orlando’s past 10 games due to a left groin strain, was initially listed on Thursday as questionable for Friday’s matchup between division rivals.

In 11 healthy games this season before he was injured in his 12th outing, Banchero averaged 23.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 34.7 minutes per contest. His shooting line was a modest .466/.250/.761, and the Magic have been a little better with him off the court (+5.1 net rating) than on it (+2.6) so far this fall. However, the team – which has gone 12-5 after a 1-4 start – isn’t worried about reincorporating the 2024 All-Star.

“He’s a very smart basketball player,” teammate Jalen Suggs said of Banchero last week. “… He’ll come back into the fold and jell well with us because that’s our brother. Regardless of how we’ve been playing while he’s been off, we want him on the court. And we’re better when he’s on the court.”

While the Magic will be getting back one of their top offensive weapons for Friday’s game, the Heat will likely be without one of their leading scorers. Guard Tyler Herro is listed as doubtful due to right big toe irritation and will undergo an MRI on the injury on Saturday, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

The good news for Miami is that Norman Powell (left ankle sprain) has been upgraded to available after sitting out Wednesday’s loss to Dallas. Powell has led the Heat with 25.0 points per game through his first 17 appearances.

Knicks Notes: Giannis, Paul, Backup PG, Hart, More

December 4th, 2025 at 9:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Although the Knicks made a “real offer” for Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo in the offseason, an in-season trade looks unlikely at this juncture, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter video link).

As Begley explains, Antetokounmpo would likely have to try and force his way to New York for a deal to happen, and even if that were to occur, Milwaukee would be under no obligation to fulfill his request. A league source also tells Begley the Knicks like their roster and believe they’re well-positioned in the wide-open Eastern Conference.

The Clippers announced on Wednesday morning that they’re “parting ways” with Chris Paul — what that means exactly is still to be determined, since he’s unlikely to be waived anytime soon and isn’t trade-eligible until December 15. A previous report indicated that the Knicks have discussed the possibility of making a deal for the 40-year-old point guard, but Begley hears a trade, at least as of now, is “highly unlikely” to occur.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News and Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post (subscriber link) weigh the pros and cons of the Knicks making a run at Paul. Vaccaro believes the future Hall-of-Famer would be an upgrade over second-year guard Tyler Kolek and would probably be relatively easy to acquire. Winfield, meanwhile, says Paul would be an imperfect fit on the Knicks due to his declining production and worsening defense, but the team does need another play-maker off the bench, and the 12-time All-Star is one of the best in league history.
As Stefan Bondy of The New York Post writes (subscription required), Kolek has been getting backup point guard minutes of late, but the team has struggled mightily in his time on the court, which is one reason why the need for a reserve play-maker behind Jalen Brunson persists. Bondy lists nine guards whom a pair of NBA executives think could be available before the February deadline, including Paul, Jose Alvarado (Pelicans), Tre Jones (Bulls), and his older brother Tyus Jones (Magic).
Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter video link) expects Josh Hart to remain in the starting lineup going forward, which is noteworthy because OG Anunoby could return to action on Friday — he’s questionable against Utah after missing the past nine games with a strained left hamstring. Hart has been playing his best basketball of the season recently.
While the Knicks have won five of their past six games, they’ve also blown double-digit leads in five of those six contests, according to Winfield. The latest incident occurred in Wednesday’s win over Charlotte. “Teams aren’t just going to lay down. We build a lead, you’ve got to anticipate they’re going to fight back, they’re not just going to give up,” Brunson said after the victory. “We’ve got to do a better job of slowing down their runs and limiting them. But we can’t let them get all the way back like we’ve been doing.”

Magic’s Banchero, Knicks’ Anunoby Questionable Friday

December 4th, 2025 at 5:31pm CST by Rory Maher

A pair of key NBA players could return from their respective injuries on Friday.

Magic forward Paolo Banchero has been upgraded to questionable for Friday’s game vs. Miami, as first reported by Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel and subsequently confirmed by the team (Twitter links).

Banchero, the first overall pick in the 2022 draft, has missed the past 10 games with a left groin strain.

The injury designation for Banchero is somewhat surprising. As Beede writes, head coach Jamahl Mosley indicated after shootaround on Wednesday morning that the former Duke star was still limited to non-contact drills in practice. Perhaps that changed over the past 36 hours.

“At the end of the day, we always try to see how he’s responding to each day and how he recovers that next day after he’s gone through treatments and workouts,” Mosley said.

For what it’s worth, Banchero said on November 23 that he was “definitely feeling close” to returning from the injury. Orlando has compiled a 7-3 record without the 23-year-old and is currently 13-9.

Banchero was limited to 46 games last season after making 80 regular season appearances in year two. The 2024 All-Star signed a maximum-salary rookie scale extension this summer that includes Rose Rule language — he could earn a significant raise if he makes an All-NBA team this season, but he’d only be eligible if he appears in at least 65 games.

Veteran forward OG Anunoby also has a chance to return to action on Friday, having been listed as questionable for the Knicks‘ matchup with Utah, according to Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link). The former All-Defensive member has missed the past nine games with a strained left hamstring.

Anunoby was cleared for controlled contact work and 3-on-3 scrimmaging over the weekend, then head coach Mike Brown said on Wednesday that the 28-year-old had taken full contact, as James L. Edwards III of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).

“He’s progressing in the right direction,” Brown said.

Anunoby was off to an impressive start to the 2025/26 season before the hamstring strain, averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.1 steals through 11 games (33.5 minutes per contest). His shooting line over that span was .483/.397/.760.

New York is currently 14-7. The team has gone 6-3 in Anunoby’s absence.