Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Hawks, Beal, Wizards, Magic, Hornets

July 2nd, 2022 at 4:34pm CST by JD Shaw

Dejounte Murray is excited to team up with Trae Young and had been talking to his new partner in the Hawks‘ backcourt about the possibility for the past two to three weeks, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Speaking at press conference Friday, Murray said Atlanta was the only team he wanted to join and told reporters that he probably would still be with the Spurs if it hadn’t been for the opportunity with the Hawks.

Atlanta paid a premium price to acquire Murray, sending Danilo Gallinari and a sizable package of draft assets to San Antonio. General manager Landry Fields said the Hawks took time to assess the risks before committing to the trade.

“This wasn’t one of those that came about in a day,” Fields said. “Looking at what we were going to part with up front was one thing and then once we started to engage with San Antonio, it turned into another thing. We took time between talks to sit and think about how this was going to impact us in the future, how was this going to impact our current team, projection-wise what we are going to look like in several years, after factoring all of that in, we got to a place we were comfortable with.”

Here are some other notes from the Southeast Division:

Justin Holiday and Maurice Harkless, who are being acquired from the Kings in the Kevin Huerter trade, are both expected to be on the Hawks’ opening night roster. Kirschner adds. He also states that Atlanta continues to listen to offers for John Collins.
The Wizards were able to retain star free agent Bradley Beal in free agency, but questions remain about whether it was the right move for the team, Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes. Washington agreed to a five-year, $251MM deal with the three-time All-Star, prompting Robbins to explore whether keeping Beal at that price will keep the Wizards stuck in mediocrity due to their limited cap flexibility.
The Magic‘s free agency moves further prove the team believes in its young core, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel opines. Orlando reached agreements with Mohamed Bamba, Gary Harris and Bol Bol, and guaranteed Moritz Wagner‘s salary. The team appears ready to run it back and continue developing its own players rather than adding outside help.
The Hornets are expected to hire Tyrone Corbin and Bob Beyer to Steve Clifford‘s coaching staff, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report tweets. Corbin worked for Clifford in Orlando, while Beyer coached under Clifford in Charlotte. Corbin and Beyer hold over 30 years of combined NBA coaching experience.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

Magic Sign Paolo Banchero

July 1st, 2022 at 4:26pm CST by Rory Maher

The Magic have officially signed Paolo Banchero, the first pick of last week’s NBA draft, the team announced in a press release.

In 39 games as a freshman for Duke this past season, the 6’10” Banchero averaged 17.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.1 SPG on .478/.338/.729 shooting. He helped lead the Blue Devils to a 32-7 record and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they ultimately fell to long-time rival North Carolina in the Final Four.

Banchero earned numerous accolades for his stellar season, including Consensus All-America Second Team, All-ACC First Team, and ACC Rookie of the Year, among others.

As the first overall pick, Banchero will earn $11,055,120 as a rookie in 2022/23 if he signs for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale (nearly always happens). He’s eligible to make $50,158,769 over the four-year contract, assuming the Magic pick up his team options in years three and four, which is basically a lock given his draft status.

Banchero is expected to make his Orlando debut in the Las Vegas Summer League on July 7.

Eastern Notes: LaVine, Bryant, G. Harris, T. Young, Hawks

July 1st, 2022 at 10:19am CST by Luke Adams

Although Zach LaVine wasn’t one of the 38 free agents who reportedly reached a contract agreement during the first day of free agency on Thursday, the Bulls remain confident that the two-time All-Star will eventually agree to a new five-year, $215MM deal to stay in Chicago, sources tell Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. According to Cowley, the Bulls met with LaVine during day one of free agency, but the 27-year-old wants to hear all the offers that may be available to him.

Here’s more from around the East:

Wizards free agent center Thomas Bryant still appears unlikely to return to Washington, as was reported on Thursday. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Bryant is receiving “significant” interest from contending teams and will likely make a decision today. The Celtics and Lakers are among the clubs in the mix, Haynes adds.
The two-year contract extensions signed by Magic wing Gary Harris and Raptors forward Thaddeus Young on Thursday aren’t fully guaranteed in 2023/24, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. According to Marks, Harris has no protection in the second year of his new contract, while Young has a partial guarantee.
The Hawks have officially confirmed a front office move that was reported in June, announcing in a press release that Landry Fields has been elevated from assistant GM to general manager. The club also announced a series of other basketball operations hires and promotions.

Magic Re-Sign Bol Bol To Two-Year Contract

July 1st, 2022 at 9:41am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 7: The Magic have officially re-signed Bol, per a team press release.

JULY 1: Bol Bol has agreed to a two-year deal with the Magic, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel.

Orlando traded for Bol in February, but he was still recovering from foot surgery and hasn’t played for the team. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman indicated after the season ended that the team was still interested in the 22-year-old big man and hoped to re-sign him.

Bol appeared in 14 games last season, all with the Nuggets, averaging 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.8 minutes per night. He played just 53 combined games during his two-plus years in Denver.

A second-round draft pick in 2019, Bol was an intriguing prospect because of his perimeter skills mixed with a lean 7’2″ frame. He showed flashes of talent in the G League and Summer League, but hasn’t been able to translate that into a consistent role in the NBA.

Like Mohamed Bamba, Bol is reportedly returning to the Magic despite the club not issuing him a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent earlier this week.

Magic To Guarantee Moritz Wagner’s 2022/23 Salary

June 30th, 2022 at 8:51pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Reserve Magic center Moritz Wagner will have his $1.9MM non-guaranteed salary for the 2022/23 NBA season become fully guaranteed, per Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter).

Wagner was drafted by the Lakers out of Michigan with the No. 25 pick in 2018. He spent one season with Los Angeles as a little-used reserve, averaging just 10.4 MPG. The 6’11” center spent the next few years on the move, being flipped first to the Wizards in 2019, then the Celtics and Magic during the 2020/21 season.

The team drafted his younger brother, 2022 All-Rookie small forward Franz Wagner, with the eight overall pick in 2021. The Magic brought Wagner back on his current two-year, $3.6MM deal during the same offseason. Across 63 games with Orlando in 2021/22, the 25-year-old backup big man averaged 9.0 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 1.4 APG in 15.2 MPG, playing behind the Magic’s jumbo-sized frontcourt of Wendell Carter Jr. and Mohamed Bamba.

With the advent of top 2022 draft pick Paolo Banchero out of Duke and the expected return of Jonathan Isaac near the start of the 2022/23 season, Wagner may struggle to make Orlando’s big man rotation on a night-to-night basis.

Gary Harris Signs Two-Year Extension With Magic

June 30th, 2022 at 7:59pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

7:59pm: The Magic have officially issued a press release announcing that the team’s contract extension with Harris is done (Twitter link).

7:53pm: Veteran Magic shooting guard Gary Harris will return to Orlando, per Jeff Zillgit of USA Today Sports (via Twitter). Agents Austin Brown and Aaron Mintz inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) that the two sides have agreed to a two-season, $26MM contract extension.

The 27-year-old spent his first 6.5 NBA seasons in Denver after the Nuggets traded for his draft rights in 2014. Harris quickly became a valuable two-way starter with the Nuggets beginning in the 2015/16 season. His availability began to be hampered by injury issues towards the end of his Denver tenure. The 6’4″ wing holds career averages of 11.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.1 APG, and 1.2 SPG, plus shooting splits of .448/.363/.812.

Denver eventually included Harris in its 2021 trade for forward Aaron Gordon. During his first full season with a lottery-bound 22-60 Magic club in 2021/22, Harris proved to be a solid veteran presence on both sides of the ball, averaging 11.1 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.8 APG and 1.0 SPG, plus a .434/.384/.874 slash line.

Because the calendar has yet to roll over to July 1, the NBA technically remains in the 2021/22 season. Thus, Harris was still extension-eligible today and won’t actually become a free agent. He’ll also remain trade-eligible after signing the extension, since it doesn’t exceed the CBA’s extend-and-trade limits.

Harris had previously been signed to a four-year, $84MM extension deal while with the Nuggets.

QO Decisions: Nwora, T. Brown, Rockets, Moon, More

June 29th, 2022 at 10:41pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks have tendered a qualifying offer to Jordan Nwora, making the 23-year-old a restricted free agent, a league source tells Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Nwora’s QO for 2022/23 is worth a projected $2,036,090.

The 45th pick of the 2020 draft, Nwora saw his role expand in his second season with Milwaukee, appearing in 63 games (19.1 MPG) with averages of 7.9 PPG and 3.6 RPG on .403/.348/.837 shooting. He’s No. 43 on our list of top 50 free agents.

Let’s round-up some more qualifying offer decisions…

The Bulls won’t extend a QO to Troy Brown ($7,228,448), making him an unrestricted free agent, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter). Brown, who turns 23 on July 28, was the 15th pick of the 2018 draft but didn’t leave much of an impression with Chicago, averaging 4.3 PPG and 3.1 RPG on .419/.353/.769 shooting in 66 games (16 MPG) in ’21/22.
The Rockets aren’t giving qualifying offers to either Bruno Fernando ($2,228,276) or Anthony Lamb (two-way), according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Fernando, the 34th pick of the 2019 draft, has seen scant NBA minutes, appearing in 119 contests with an average of 9.2 MPG over his three seasons with Atlanta, Houston and Boston. His QO was worth more than the minimum and the Rockets have lots of players already under contract next season after sending Christian Wood to Dallas for the No. 26 pick and four veterans.
Xavier Moon (two-way) won’t receive a qualifying offer from the Clippers, as Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times relays (via Twitter). Moon will be an unrestricted free agent after reaching the NBA as a 27-year-old rookie last season. He has plenty of international experience, having made stops in France, England, Israel and Canada before earning three 10-day hardship deals and later a two-way contract with L.A. in ’21/22.
A couple of two-way players received QOs from their respective clubs, sources tell Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links). Nathan Knight received his offer from the Timberwolves, while the Magic extended a QO to Admiral Schofield. Both players will be restricted free agents.

Magic Emerge As Leading Suitor For Isaiah Hartenstein

June 29th, 2022 at 2:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The Magic are a “leading suitor” for free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein, league sources tell veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link). Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report said earlier today that Orlando had interest in Hartenstein.

With Serge Ibaka still rounding into form following offseason back surgery, Hartenstein emerged early in the year as the Clippers‘ primary backup center and thrived in the role, making 62.6% of his shots from the field and handing out 2.4 APG in just 17.9 minutes per contest. He even flashed the ability to hit the occasional three-pointer (14-of-30) and played solid defense.

While the Clippers would presumably like to bring back Hartenstein, their ability to offer him a raise on last season’s minimum-salary contract will be extremely limited, since they only hold his Non-Bird rights are are rumored to be using their taxpayer mid-level exception on John Wall. That opens the door for Hartenstein to sign with another team for part or all of its mid-level.

The Magic primarily used Wendell Carter and Mohamed Bamba at the five in 2021/22, but Bamba will be a free agent this summer and isn’t expected to get a qualifying offer. Without a QO, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent, paving the way for his possible exit out of Orlando.

The Magic reportedly still have some interest in a new deal with Bamba, but if they’re able to add Hartenstein to share center duties with Carter, that may close the door on a Bamba return.

The Bulls and Rockets are among the other teams that have been linked to Hartenstein.

Magic Aren’t Expected To Tender QO To Bamba

June 29th, 2022 at 12:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

It appears the Magic will let Mo Bamba become an unrestricted free agent, writes Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel.

A source tells Price that the team isn’t expected to submit a qualifying offer to Bamba before today’s deadline. That would make the fourth-year center unrestricted and take away the Magic’s opportunity to match any offer he receives in free agency.

Bamba’s qualifying offer would be $10.1MM and it would provide him with the option of signing it and returning to the Magic next season. He has been with Orlando since being selected with the sixth pick in the 2018 draft.

The team remains interested in keeping Bamba when free agency begins, Price adds, but presumably at a lower figure. A sign-and-trade deal also remains a possibility.

Several teams are expected to pursue Bamba on the free agent market, with a source telling Price that the Raptors, Knicks, Lakers, Bulls, Rockets, Heat and Timberwolves have all shown interest.

Bamba is coming off his best NBA season, posting career highs with 10.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.2 assists per game. He became a full-time starter for the first time in his career, starting 69 of the 71 games that he played.

Eastern Free Agent Rumors: Sexton, Bagley, Claxton, Hartenstein, Bridges

June 29th, 2022 at 11:48am CST by Arthur Hill

The Cavaliers are trying to re-sign Collin Sexton, but their first offer was short of what he’s hoping for, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

The free agent guard wants a new deal that averages about $20MM per year, sources tell Fischer, but Cleveland’s early offer in extension talks was below that number. Fischer says it was similar to Jordan Clarkson‘s “three-year, $51MM” deal, but Clarkson’s contract is actually worth $52MM over four years, so it’s unclear which of those figures was closer to Cleveland’s initial offer.

Sexton missed most of last season with a torn meniscus in his left knee. He was recently cleared for full basketball activities and should be ready for training camp.

There’s more on Eastern Conference free agents, all from Fischer:

Marvin Bagley III, who was acquired at the trade deadline, is expected to re-sign with the Pistons for more than $10MM per year. Fischer compares the expected deal to what the Hornets gave Kelly Oubre, which was two seasons at $24.6MM with a partial guarantee on the second year.
Fischer confirms a report that Nic Claxton will likely remain with the Nets, probably for an amount in the neighborhood of the full MLE.
The Bulls and Magic could be among the suitors for center Isaiah Hartenstein now that the Clippers are expected to give their full taxpayer MLE to John Wall. Chicago has been linked to several centers, but Fischer hears that the team would prefer not to use its entire non-taxpayer MLE of $10.1MM, so Hartenstein may be a lower-cost option. Rumors have emerged that Orlando may have interest in Hartenstein, but Fischer adds that he could also decide to remain in L.A. on a cheaper deal and hope to cash in later.
The Pacers are considering an offer for Hornets forward Miles Bridges, but Fischer says it’s not clear if Indiana is ready to hand out such a large contract. Fischer adds that the Grizzlies have been considered a “sleeper candidate” due to the presence of Jaren Jackson Jr., his former college teammate, but sources tell Fischer that Memphis isn’t expected to pursue Bridges.