The Orlando Magic entered the 2025-26 season with lofty expectations. Part of that stemmed from their 47-win surprise two seasons ago but, after a 41-41 performance marred by injury in 2024-25, the Magic invested heavily in a blockbuster deal to acquire Desmond Bane. On paper, the Bane addition addressed some of the glaring issues for Orlando's troubled offense and, as a result, some even picked the Magic to win the wide-open Eastern Conference.
However, the Magic haven't been able to hit the ground running at the level of a projected 50-win team. In fact, Orlando had a 25-24 record in early February that placed the team in conversations among the most disappointing teams in the NBA. Since then, though, the Magic have showed life that is creating belief again among those watching the team's development closely.
Orlando is cooking
Snce a lopsided loss to Oklahoma City on Feb. 3, the Magic are 10-4 with sterling underlying metrics. Over that sample, the Magic are No. 3 in the NBA with plus-10.3 net rating and, after relatively middling results early in the year, Orlando's vaunted defense has clicked once again. The Magic are yielding only 1.056 points per possession in those 14 games, leading the NBA along the way, and that allows Orlando's offense to simply be solid, rather than needing to stand out in order to pave the way toward success.
While the run began before the All-Star break, it continued in earnest following the league-wide hiatus. Orlando is 7-3 since the break, out-scoring opponents by nearly 11 points per 100 possessions despite a middle-of-the-pack offense. That formula aligns perfectly with Orlando's roster construction and, in an intriguing turn of events, standout forward Paolo Banchero is playing (by far) his best basketball of the season.
Is Paolo Banchero finding his way?
In his fourth NBA season, the discourse seemed to be turning against Paolo Banchero to some degree. The former No. 1 overall pick was still producing counting stats but, as has been the case for most of his career, the Magic were not excelling with him on the court (compared to when he was on the bench) and efficiency questions were picking up steam. That intensified when he put together an ugly 51.2 percent true shooting mark in the month of December, but Banchero's lack of clear growth as a front-line player was, at the very least, turning some heads in a negative direction.
As the Magic have turned things around, Banchero has also done so at the top of the ticket. Since the All-Star break, he is averaging 26.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game with 60.3 percent true shooting. Those are tremendous numbers in any context, but the Magic are also crushing opponents (plus-12.3 net rating) when Banchero is on the court. Team success always helps to raise the profile of individual stars but, particularly in Banchero's case, a prolonged run of excellence with him driving the action would go a long way.
What now for Orlando?
On the morning of March 10, ESPN's Basketball Power Index projects the Magic to finish with a 45-37 record that would place them in what is effectively a three-way tie with the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat. That end result would not seem impressive given the preseason expectations Orlando but, at the same time, it would be far better than the trend line looked only a few weeks ago.
The Magic have an intriguing, nationally televised test on Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers in what could be a playoff preview if things break a certain way on all sides. If Orlando's defense operates in the way that it has over the last five weeks, the team can hang with anyone, and Banchero's individual resurgence also provides real optimism that the Magic have "figured it out," at least to some degree, as the stretch run arrives.