Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Rookie Rankings, MVP Ratings, Tremaglio, Officiating

December 5th, 2022 at 10:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Top pick Paolo Banchero has missed some games due to an ankle sprain but the top pick of the draft still leads ESPN Jonathan Givony’s rookie power rankings (Insider link). The Magic forward was averaging 21.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game entering the week. The sixth overall pick, the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin, sits in second place while averaging 18.5 points off the bench. Pistons guard Jaden Ivey (15.9 points, 4.3 assists) holds the No. 3 spot.

We have more NBA-related info:

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum tops USA Today/Gannett staffers’ early-season Most Valuable Player ratings, propelled by Boston’s strong start. Tatum entered Monday’s action ranked fifth in the league in scoring (30.7). Former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo holds the runner-up spot with the Suns’ Devin Booker in third place.
Negotiating the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the first time, National Basketball Players Association executive director Tamika Tremaglio is leaning on players agents to determine the best course of action, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal reports. Tremaglio has reached out to all NBPA-certified agents for advice and is having frequent discussions with the most influential agents. One likely point of contention is the NBA’s desire for a stronger upper limit on player salaries, which some agents view as a hard cap.
Traveling calls are piling up, culminating in 13 such turnovers during the Cavaliers–Knicks game on Sunday. Carrying and palming calls are also on the rise. “My job as the head coach — for lack of a better description — of our team, is to make sure that the rule book is being enforced,” the NBA’s senior vice president of referee development and training, Monty McCutchen, said to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “And when we emphasize traveling and sequencing and it picks up another part of footwork, then it needs to be adjudicated properly.”

Wendell Carter Jr. Hopes To Be Back In 1-2 Weeks

December 2nd, 2022 at 7:51am CST by Luke Adams

Magic center Wendell Carter Jr., who has been out since November 18 due to a right plantar fascia strain, told Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel on Wednesday that he hopes to return in a week or two. Price cautions that Carter’s timeline remains fluid and will ultimately depend on how the foot responds to treatment.

Hawks’ Hunter, Collins Exit Wednesday’s Win With Injuries

November 30th, 2022 at 8:36pm CST by Rory Maher

8:36pm: Hawks head coach Nate McMillan said Hunter and Collins will undergo MRIs on Thursday, according to Brad Rowland of Locked On Hawks (Twitter link). McMillan also confirmed that Hunter aggravated the same injury he was dealing with heading into the game.

7:32pm: Hawks starting forwards De’Andre Hunter and John Collins exited Wednesday’s game against Orlando with injuries and were ruled out for the remainder of the contest, Atlanta announced (via Twitter).

Collins, the power forward, sustained a left ankle sprain, while Hunter, the small forward, is dealing with right thigh soreness. As Gabe Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets, the Hawks were up 20 points at halftime, so it’s possible that may have contributed to the decision to sit both players.

The Hawks announced prior to the game that Hunter was available but dealing with right hip flexor soreness, and considering the hip flexor is located at the top part of the thigh, it’s reasonable to speculate that there could be a correlation (Twitter link via Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). The team also announced that reserve wing Justin Holiday had entered the health and safety protocols and was out Wednesday.

Guard Gary Harris was injured during Wednesday’s game as well, experiencing right hamstring tightness that caused the Magic to rule him out for the remainder of the contest (Twitter link). Harris was making his sixth appearance in 2022/23 after offseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus caused him to miss Orlando’s first 15 games.

We’ll have to wait for more updates to determine whether Hunter, Collins or Harris might miss more time with their respective injuries.

The 11-10 Hawks had lost three in a row heading into Wednesday’s contest but are in a strong position to snap that skid, currently leading 108-89 with eight minutes remaining. The Magic will have dropped six straight if they wind up losing. Their current record is 5-16, the second-worst mark in the NBA.

Hampton Not Stressing About Short-, Long-Term Future

November 30th, 2022 at 8:05am CST by Luke Adams

After having his 2023/24 team option declined last month, Magic wing R.J. Hampton doesn’t have a defined role in Orlando in the short- or the long-term, but he’s not letting that bother him, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. “It really (doesn’t) change anything,” Hampton said when asked about his fluctuating minutes. “The coaches give me confidence every game whether I’m playing or not. My teammates give me confidence every game, so whether I don’t play for two games or 10 minutes (in) one game, I feel like I’ve been prepared by them.”

Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony Set To Return For Magic

November 29th, 2022 at 10:23am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic will get some reinforcements in their backcourt when they host the Hawks on Wednesday, according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel, who reports that guards Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony will be available for the game.

Fultz has yet to play at all this season due to a fractured toe that he suffered in September, right before training camps began. Anthony, meanwhile, has been dealing with a right internal oblique injury that has sidelined him since October 26. He has played just four games so far in 2022/23.

Fultz and Anthony were expected to play major roles in Orlando’s backcourt this season. In their absences, the team has leaned more heavily on Jalen Suggs at point guard, with R.J. Hampton also playing an increased role. Suggs and Hampton, along with rookie wing Caleb Houstan, are candidates to see their minutes cut back a little now that the Magic are getting healthier.

It will be a big year for Fultz, since the former No. 1 overall pick doesn’t have a fully guaranteed salary for the 2023/24 season. With just $2MM of his $17MM cap hit guaranteed for next season, he’ll be looking to stay healthy and secure a place in the Magic’s future plans. Injuries have limited Fultz to just 98 games since he arrived in Orlando in February 2019, and only 131 since he was drafted in 2017.

Anthony has a guaranteed contract for ’23/24, but it’s an important season for him too, since he’ll become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2023 offseason.

Bol Bol Worth The Hype, Wait

November 29th, 2022 at 9:33am CST by Luke Adams

Once considered a potential lottery pick, Bol Bol fell to No. 44 in the 2019 draft due to health concerns, and injuries limited him to 53 games in his first three NBA seasons. But the Magic big man is showing this season that he was worth the hype and worth the wait, writes Damian Burchardt of The Ringer. As Michael Scotto of HoopsHype details, Bol is drawing rave reviews from teammates (Paolo Banchero) and opponents (Kevin Durant) alike, having boosted his averages to 13.5 PPG and 7.9 RPG on .601/.419/.767 shooting through 21 games (27.1 MPG) this season.

Markelle Fultz Could Make 2022/23 Debut On Sunday

November 26th, 2022 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Magic guard Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2017 draft, could make his 2022/23 season debut on Sunday against the Sixers, per Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required).

The 24-year-old has missed the first 19 games of the season after fracturing his left big toe in late September, right before training camp opened. However, he was able to practice on Wednesday and he’s been upgraded from out to questionable for Sunday’s game, as Price relays.

A couple weeks ago, Price reported that Fultz hoped to return in the next three-to-four weeks, so a Sunday return would be a little ahead of schedule for that timeline. Still, he’s only listed as questionable, not probable or available, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll actually play, though it’s certainly encouraging that his return appears imminent.

Injuries have been a major factor in Fultz’s career, limiting him to just 131 games over five-plus seasons, including 18 in ’21/22 after recovering from a torn ACL. He averaged 10.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 20.0 minutes last season.

Fultz will earn a guaranteed $16.5MM this season, but his $17MM salary for ’23/24 is only partially guaranteed at $2MM, so how he performs upon his return will likely have a significant impact on whether he’s in Orlando’s future plans. The Magic have dealt with a number of injuries to key rotation players this season and are currently 5-14, the third-worst record in the NBA.

Bulls Notes: DeRozan, Vucevic, Williams, Drummond

November 26th, 2022 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

It has been hard to know what to expect from the Bulls on a night-to-night basis so far this season.

After capping a four-game losing streak with a home loss to Orlando last Friday, the team had its two best wins of the season on Monday in Boston and Wednesday in Milwaukee. The win over the Bucks was Chicago’s best defensive outing of the year, as Darnell Mayberry wrote for The Athletic.

However, the Bulls followed up those two statement games with a letdown performance on Friday, falling in overtime to Oklahoma City.

According to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, head coach Billy Donovan had braced for some up and downs in the early part of this season as the club tried to move away from leaning so heavily on DeMar DeRozan‘s isolation-heavy offense and late-game heroics.

“DeMar took us as far as he can take us (last season), and we really have to look at, OK, how can we make another step or jump?” Donovan said. “If we get back to that, where it’s all (isolations) all the time, it just gets too easy to defend. This is going to take some time offensively for us to play the way we need to play, which is a little bit different.”

Here’s more on the Bulls:

The 2021 deadline trade that sent Nikola Vucevic to Chicago has netted the Magic a pair of potential building blocks (Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr.), with another lightly protected first-round pick still to come. Still, Vucevic isn’t worried about the critics who wish the Bulls hadn’t made the deal. “I know some people want to bring back the trade, the picks that were given, but it happened,” Vucevic told Cowley of The Sun-Times. “If it didn’t, it’s not for sure the Bulls would have picked Wagner or hit on the pick. Who knows what would have happened?” As Cowley observes, without the Vucevic trade, it’s also not clear whether free agents DeRozan and Lonzo Ball would’ve chosen Chicago later in 2021.
It has taken some time for former No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams to get comfortable at the NBA level, but the third-year forward finally seems to be finding a rhythm, according to Cowley, who writes for The Sun-Times that Williams hasn’t looked as passive recently as he did during the first few weeks of the season.
Although two-time All-Star Andre Drummond is averaging a career-low 15.4 minutes per game this season, he has no intention of pushing for more playing time as long as the Bulls believe his limited role gives them the best chance to win games. “I’m at a point now where I’m just focusing on winning,” Drummond said this week, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “I told Billy and the guys when I came here from the beginning: ‘Whatever you guys need me to do to help win, that’s what I’m willing to do.’ If that’s to play eight minutes, 12 minutes, 30 minutes, I’m able to do that. I’m cool with the role that I have. I just have to maintain it.”

Paolo Banchero, Moritz Wagner Set To Return For Magic

November 25th, 2022 at 5:31pm CST by Rory Maher

The Magic will have a couple of previously injured big men available for Friday’s home game against Philadelphia, writes Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required).

2022 No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero is slated to start (Twitter link) after a seven-game absence due to a left ankle sprain, while Moritz Wagner could make his 2022/23 regular season debut after incurring a right midfoot sprain during preseason.

Banchero had an excellent start to his NBA career, averaging a team-high 23.5 PPG along with 8.3 RPG, 3.6 APG and 0.9 BPG through 11 games (34.6 MPG). According to Price, the former Duke product said he’d never really dealt with an injury before.

“I’ve just got to be patient,” Banchero said. “It’s my first time dealing with injuries. At first, I wanted to rush as quickly as possible trying to get back. I realized that wasn’t doing any good for me. I’m trying to learn to be patient and continue to be patient and listen to myself.”

Wagner was productive last season for Orlando, appearing in a career-high 63 games (15.2 MPG) while averaging a 9.0 PPG and 3.7 RPG as a reserve. The 25-year-old should help the team’s frontcourt depth and has been a solid scorer in limited minutes.

Unfortunately, Wendell Carter Jr. (right plantar fascia strain), Chuma Okeke (left knee soreness) and Terrence Ross (illness) have all been ruled out for the Magic (Twitter link). As Price notes in his article, both Carter and Okeke had previously been listed as questionable but were later downgraded. Ross was a last-minute addition to the injury report.

Carter will now have missed four of the past five games with the nagging foot problem. Plantar fascia injuries can be very fickle and typically only respond to rest, so we’ll see how that plays out over the course of the season. Okeke had appeared in all 18 games for the 5-13 Magic but exited Monday’s loss to the Pacers early with the injury.

Southeast Notes: Carter Jr., Cain, Heat Arena, Bol

November 22nd, 2022 at 9:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. said that he’d been dealing with right plantar fascia for a few weeks before it sidelined him, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.

“There’s really no specific thing you can put on it to stop it from hurting,” he said. “It’s just about tolerance, putting heat on it and stuff like that.”

Carter, who is averaging 16.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists, has missed three of the last four games.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Jamal Cain, one of the Heat‘s two-way players, says that being a 23-year-old rookie makes him better prepared for the ups and downs of his pro career than a younger newcomer, he told Spencer Davies of Basketball News in a lengthy feature. “When you’re young, you want everything to come so fast, you want everything to be perfect,” Cain said. “But after going through college and going through those ups and downs and realizing that my journey is going to be tough… it’s not going to be all perfect.” Cain has appeared in five games with Miami this season.
Miami-Dade County has filed a motion in federal court to immediately terminate the FTX Arena naming rights agreement, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets. The Heat and Miami-Dade County chose to sever ties with cryptocurrency giant FTX after the company filed for bankruptcy.
Bol Bol is making a bid for the league’s Most Improved Player award and he believes that improved health has led to his breakout season, Andrew Lopez of ESPN writes. The Magic big man is averaging 13.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. “Now that I’ve been healthy,” Bol said, “I feel like I’ve just been getting better every single day.”