The entire 2024 season had seemingly one goal.
From the time Paolo Banchero accepted the 2023 Rookie of the Year Award, he made it clear that the season would be Playoffs or bust. The team was talking about it last May in their group text chains. They believed when everyone thought the team would make a slow and steady improvement into a winning team.
Nobody saw the team winning 47 games and earning the 5-seed. Nobody certainly saw the Orlando Magic pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games and realistically coming a half away from advancing to the second round.
If the Magic pushed aside momentary disappointment from their Game 7 defeat, it was because they understood they had a lot to be proud of with their 2024 season. They also understood that this was just the beginning. This was a stepping stone for the team to continue to improve.
For this young Magic team, one of the biggest things they could do was to reach the Playoffs. They needed to see how they would handle the pressure that comes from the postseason. They needed to see who could step up and who maybe could not.
That is always what the first Playoff series is for a young team. It is a young group getting thrown into the deep end and daring to swim.
Through the Magic’s seven-game series, there were definitely some players who sank. There were definitely some players who struggled to get going and left something to be desired. That will leave them hungry to return next year.
And there were plenty of players who stepped up to the plate and swam beautifully.
The Magic know that this was a development season. They knew that they needed to dip their toes into the Playoff waters and see how their team responded. So, to see these players thrive is a good thing for the Magic overall.
And for three players specifically, the Playoffs should be a launching pad.
3 Orlando Magic players who gained the most from the Playoffs
3. Jalen Suggs
A lot of the narrative around Jalen Suggs entering his draft was his showing in the NCAA Tournament. The half-court shot that sent Gonzaga to the national championship game was the highlight replayed and hung with everybody as the draft came up. It was that highlight and that potential that had Magic fans high-fiving when he fell to them at No. 5.
It took two injury-filled seasons for Suggs to find himself and what his role should be. But he became one of the key players for the Magic this season. He became the player who defined the team’s culture and breakthrough this season.
Suggs had his ups and downs in the Playoffs, but overall he acquitted himself well. He, too, stepped up on the Playoff stage and gained a lot of fans from the experience with how hard he plays and gets after his matchup.
There is a reason Suggs is going to be on the All-Defensive team for years to come.
Overall, Donovan Mitchell shot 15 for 34 and scored 44 points with Jalen Suggs as his defender, according to NBA.com’s tracking data. He forced four turnovers. He was just as strong against Darius Garland, forcing six turnovers.
And he did a lot of this on a bad knee after his injury in Game 2.
Mitchell got the better of him in Game 7. But Suggs provided the moment of the series when he went chin-to-chin with Garland in Game 4 and smiled and laughed as Garland tried to get under his skin. That just defines Suggs and what he brings to the Magic.
Suggs’ real development this season was his consistency on offense. He had an up-and-down series, but his ups were particularly strong and showed how much he relishes the Playoffs.
Suggs finished the series averaging 14.7 points per game. His shooting went up and down, hitting only 29.2 percent of his threes. But his home/road splits mirrored the series.
Suggs scored 19.3 points per game in the Magic’s three home wins in the series and shot 11 for 23 from deep. He had 22 points, six rebounds, and four assists and hit 6 of 13 3-pointers in the Magic’s Game 6 victory.
Orlando needed some more consistent scoring on the road especially to win the series. They will be spending their offseason trying to supplement that scoring. But Suggs showed what he is capable of doing on both ends and why he is the team’s heart and soul.
2. Moe Wagner
It did not take very long for Moe Wagner to endear himself to the crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Game 1.
Wagner came in and immediately began throwing his body around and being physical and needling opponents and officials. When Isaac Okoro tried to shoulder-check him during a stoppage, it got everybody into the game.
Wagner will claim he is not trying to needle opponents like this. He is naturally demonstrative, flexing to the bench after big finishes and trying to pick up his team’s energy. That is what his role is. But the effect is the same anyway.
The Magic made it clear even in their defeats in Games 1 and 2 that they would not back down physically. They were going to measure up and stand tall to whatever the Cavs tried to throw at them. They were not going to get rattled.
And this was all before the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse jumbotron started putting the Michigan logo up on the screen when Wagner went to the foul line.
Wagner proved himself to be indispensable throughout the Playoff series, even if his scoring dropped after 22 points in the first two games total. He averaged just 6.3 points per game and shot an oddly low 44.4 percent from the floor. Everyone struggled to shoot, and Wagner was included in that.
But Wagner’s energy off the bench was still vital for everything the Magic did and were trying to do in this series. Even when Wagner is not scoring, he keeps everyone’s energy and focus up.
Wagner is a glue guy. The kind of player that is necessary to a team’s success. He can stand to get better in the Playoffs, too. But Wagner played his role well in the series with the Cavs.
1. Paolo Banchero
It goes without saying that Paolo Banchero gained the most from the NBA Playoffs.
Even with his gaudy statistics and historic scoring performances in his first two seasons, everyone wanted to see how it would translate to the Playoffs. Critics noted his inefficiency and his methodical, plodding way of playing. They wanted to see how the young forward responded to the pressure of the Playoffs.
Banchero said it best after the series ended: The pace of play in the Playoffs was more to his liking. He relished the freedom to take sometimes inefficient shots, and the challenge of going up against the double teams and the pressure the Cleveland Cavaliers put him under.
He averaged an incredible 27.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game during the Playoff series. He had three games of 30 or more points, including 38 points in Game 7, carrying the Magic through the first half and begging for help in the second.
Magic fans starved for attention came out of the Playoff series fully understanding they had a budding superstar who is ready to meet the moment and pressure of big games. Banchero exited the Playoffs as a clear primetime performer.
In a Playoffs that seems like it is a changing of the guard with the emergence of new stars set to carry the next generation, Banchero made a clear statement of his place in his second season. Orlando knows its winning window is open, and Banchero is the kind of player to force that window open.
Banchero’s Playoff performance is why it feels like there is so much urgency to add to the team this offseason. Banchero is a clear max player, and his Playoffs confirmed the last piece the Magic needed to know: Banchero is the star they should build around.
