NBA rumors: 5 teams that should be selling at the NBA trade deadline

2. Orlando Magic

If, like, any of the Orlando Magic‘s younger cornerstones were still healthy, then you could understand keeping this core together to help them get some playoff experience. But with Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz out with season-ending injuries, Aaron Gordon still on the mend and the Magic losing 15 of their last 21 games to fall to 14th in the Eastern Conference, it’s pretty clear what needs to happen.

Nikola Vucevic will be the most coveted player on Orlando’s roster, but it’s unlikely he’ll be dealt in the middle of an All-Star season unless a suitor can squeeze in his $26 million salary and meet the Magic’s reportedly “high” asking price. This franchise needs to blow it up, but they won’t just give away Vooch for nothing.

It should be open season on Evan Fournier and Terrence Ross, however. Fournier is a useful scoring wing, and though his $17.2 million deal may be a bit trickier to make room for, he’s also valuable as an expiring contract. Ross, meanwhile, is the type of scoring sixth man that could help any team, and even with two more years left on his deal, his $13.5 million salary this season is manageable, and it declines to $12.5 million and $11.5 million over the next two years, respectively. That, of course, is saying nothing of a potential Gordon trade, or the potential reclamation project that is Al-Farouq Aminu.

A blockbuster deal centered around Vucevic may not materialize, but the Magic should realize it’s time to stop banging their heads on the same first-round playoff ceiling and finally turn the page to the younger core with a long-term approach. If that’s the case, Fournier and Ross could quickly be on the move.