Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic could use Aaron Gordon as trade bait in order to get a better prospect in the 2020 NBA draft.

According to Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer, "league sources say the Magic are attempting to move up into the lottery by packaging [the No. 15 pick] with Aaron Gordon."

Gordon is currently signed through 2021-22 and is set to make about $34.5 million over the next two years. He ranked just fourth on the team with 14.4 points per game last year, adding 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

A hamstring injury also prevented Gordon from participating in the playoffs this year.

Despite the recent struggles, the 25-year-old remains an impact player who averaged a combined 16.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game during the previous two years. He is especially valuable on the defensive end but can come through with big plays offensively when given the opportunity.

He also has plenty of star power after some strong performances in the Slam Dunk Contest (although he surprisingly never won).

Another team could see the upside in the 2014 No. 4 overall draft pick and acquire him for a relatively low cost.

Meanwhile, Orlando is clearly looking for more young talent to pair with a potential core of Markelle Fultz, Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba. The Magic made the playoffs the last two seasons but are still far from legitimate title contention.

Adding another lottery pick could put the team on track to matching up with the best in the Eastern Conference. Guard prospects like Killian Hayes or Tyrese Haliburton could be especially valuable for a team already loaded in the frontcourt.

The Orlando Magic are the latest NBA team to unveil their City Edition uniforms for the 2020-21 season. 

The jerseys are a combination of Orlando's pinstripe look from the franchise's early days and feature a bright orange color to honor Florida's long history with the citrus fruit.

Here's what the Magic said about their new look:

"The new City Edition jersey is a modern blend of our region's roots in orange and the teams' classic look. The pinstripes and stars that have always been symbols of the Magic meet the bright future of tomorrow in this bold design. It's vibrant and inspirational, bursting with hope. It's where the Magic of nostalgia and dreams come together, and what makes this city the ultimate destination to visit or live. That's Orlando. That's Magic. The community and team, together."

When the Magic were at their peak in the mid-'90s, led by Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway, they sported one of the best-looking uniforms in sports. They got rid of the pinstripes from 1998 to 2008 but have incorporated them here. 

While the 2020-21 City Edition shirts aren't a complete return to that old look, they evoke that classic style.

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac has no regrets—none about returning from his knee injury to play in the NBA bubble and tearing his ACL and meniscus cartilage, nor about standing for the national anthem as protests for social justice spread around the league.

Isaac, who suffered a posterolateral corner injury in his left knee on New Year's Day, returned for the Magic inside the bubble, playing in their last scrimmage and their seeding game, before he went down again with an injury to the same knee in his second game back. In an interview with The Athletic's Josh Robbins, the 23-year-old said he doesn't think he returned too quickly, having spent more than six months rehabbing his first knee injury before returning to play: 

"In retrospect, no, I don't think I came back too soon. I really was ready to go. I didn't have any doubts about where I was in terms of moving or playing. I mean, you can watch from the clips of when I was playing—I was fine. I was in great shape outside of just my wind getting back. But I was in great shape. I think I was jumping my highest that I've done so far in my career. So I have no regrets about coming back or the timing that I did. I trusted the staff, and we came to a decision: 'I'm ready to play.' It was my decision at the end of the day, and I went with it. And I'm glad I did."

As the league joined in on the social justice movement that was growing nationwide, with players choosing to boycott games, wear jerseys with social justice messages and kneel for the national anthem, Isaac's decision to stand for the anthem was judged as a protest against the movement, according to Robbins. But the former sixth-round pick said his decision was rooted in his religion:

"And I went about [the protest] in my own way. I know firsthand what it is to submit yourself to God because I've done it myself. I know what it is for hearts to be changed because I see it every day. I minister to people and I see people’s lives turned around, from drug dealers to business owners, from crackheads to people who change their lives around. I've seen it firsthand. And so I know the power of God. I know God's heart in terms of wanting us to be in a relationship with Him. So I'm saying, 'I respect your answer, but I'm giving my own. I'm going to give another answer to the situation and to the problem, and I believe that this answer is the correct one, and you can respect it or you can say it's the right one or not. But I'm free to say it.'" 

Even though he will miss the entirety of the upcoming season to heal his knee, Isaac told Robbins that while his opinion on playing this season would have changed if he had known how it would play out, his bubble experience was full of "opportunity" that he wouldn't have had otherwise, both on and off of the court: 

"Hindsight is 20-20. If you tell me now do I think I should have played knowing that an ACL (injury would happen), I would maybe have a different opinion. But it wouldn't be an automatic one. With being in the bubble, I got the opportunity to stand for my faith. I got the opportunity to speak. I got the opportunity to be around my teammates again. And I wouldn’t give that stuff back."

It turns out Damian Lillard wasn't the only NBA star with a music career playing inside the league's Orlando, Florida bubble during the restart.

Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon was working on his bars, too.

Gordon released the music video for his latest single late Thursday evening and gained more than 3,000 views on YouTube by Friday afternoon. 

The track, titled "LVL UP," features fellow Orlando rapper Moe and marks the second time the two have worked together on a single. 

(Warning: contains profanity)

Gordon's debut single "Pull Up" was released in early April before the NBA restart and has racked up more than 1.4 million views on Youtube. 

Lillard premiered three tracks this year following the release of his last album, Big D.O.L.L.A., in August 2019. 

Injured Orlando Magic star Aaron Gordon has left the NBA bubble, according to Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic: 

Gordon missed the first four contests of the Magic's opening-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Game 5 was postponed after the Bucks refused to take the floor, instead calling for justice for Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot in the back seven times by officer Rusten Sheskey on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin. 

Blake is expected to survive but is currently paralyzed from the waist down. It's unclear if the condition is permanent.

Orlando won Game 1 without Gordon 122-110, but his presence was missed in Game 2, which the Bucks ran away with 111-96.

Overall, the Magic are 4-9 when Gordon is out of the lineup. The only victory against a team above .500 came in Game 1.

Gordon, 24, averaged 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game this season and shot 43.7 percent from the field. During the playoffs last season, he averaged 15.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor in five games. 

While he stands as Orlando's fourth-best scorer behind Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Terrence Ross, his mobility and athleticism in the frontcourt helps space the Magic offense.

Orlando will need to find a way to replicate that Game 1 success without Gordon in Game 5 and possibly beyond.

Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon's hamstring injury will keep him out for Tuesday's playoff opener. 

Per The Athletic's Josh Robbins, Magic officials said Gordon won't play in Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

The 24-year-old suffered the hamstring injury on Aug. 5 against the Toronto Raptors inside the league's campus-like environment at Walt Disney World Resort in the Orlando, Florida, area. Despite the setback, he has been fairly durable of late, appearing in at least 78 games in three of the previous four seasons before 2019-20.

While Gordon hasn't quite developed into a superstar like Orlando hoped when it selected him with the No. 4 pick in 2014, he is a double-double threat every time he steps on the floor and has taken strides throughout his career.

After failing to average double-figure scoring in his first two years in the league, the University of Arizona product has posted at least 12.7 points per game every season since.

Gordon averaged 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from three-point range this season, helping lead the Magic to the playoffs.

Orlando can ill-afford to lose more depth after Jonathan Isaac tore his ACL and Mo Bamba left the bubble for medical evaluation, but they will likely turn toward the combination of Nikola Vucevic, James Ennis III and Khem Birch in the frontcourt until Gordon returns.

Orlando Magic center Mohamed Bamba has been ruled out for the remainder of the season and has left the NBA campus.

Magic officials said Friday that Bamba will undergo a "comprehensive post-coronavirus evaluation" on the advice of team staffers and doctors.

Bamba told The Athletic's Josh Robbins last week that he tested positive for COVID-19 on June 11, which caused him to lose his sense of smell and taste and "made him unusually fatigued and caused muscle soreness."

The 22-year-old finished this season averaging 5.4 points and 4.9 rebounds in 62 games before the season was suspended in March.

Orlando selected him with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft after he impressed in his only collegiate season at Texas. He wasn't expected to dominate immediately in the NBA at such a young age, but he has the potential to be something special.

Nikola Vucevic will continue to play big minutes as the starting center, while Khem Birch will remain a primary option off the bench for head coach Steve Clifford.

The Magic will begin the postseason against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.

The Orlando Magic announced Monday that guard Terrence Ross left the NBA campus at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday for a "personal, non-COVID medical matter, which required him to undergo some off-site tests as advised by league physicians."

The team said Ross is unavailable for Tuesday's game against the Brooklyn Nets.

His return to action will depend upon the resolution of his medical matter and the league's coronavirus quarantining protocols.

Ross, 29, has had another solid season for the Magic, providing a much-needed scoring bump off the bench. He's averaging 14.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 69 appearances, shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 35.1 percent from three.

He's the team's third-leading scorer behind center Nikola Vucevic (19.7 PPG) and guard Evan Fournier (18.5 PPG).

The good news for the Magic is they have clinched a playoff berth and are locked into the No. 8 seed. They won't have to worry about a play-in series either with the Washington Wizards 7.5 games behind them in the standings.

However, heading into the first-round series with the Milwaukee Bucks without a key scorer like Ross would be a concern. Granted, Orlando will be prohibitive underdogs against the Bucks regardless, and even winning a game in that series would come as a surprise. But the uphill battle would become a mountain without Ross.

The Orlando Magic clinched a playoff spot for the second straight season by virtue of the New Orleans Pelicans' 118-107 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night. 

The eight Eastern Conference playoff teams are now locked in after the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Sacramento Kings 119-106 earlier Friday evening. 

When the league resumed the 2019-20 season, the Magic sat eighth in the East with a 5.5-lead on the Wizards. That gave Orlando a pretty healthy cushion, and Washington's postseason hopes took a huge hit when a lingering shoulder injury ruled Bradley Beal out of the restart.

Under normal circumstances, the Magic would almost universally be pegged for a first-round exit, but the present circumstances lead to an air of unpredictability.

Players have had to sit at home for four-plus months before resuming play in the middle of what otherwise would've been the offseason. Home-court advantage is nonexistent too, since teams are playing at neutral sites in Florida.

Of course, Orlando will be big underdogs nonetheless in an opening-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors. As things stand, the Magic trail the Nets by 1.5 games for the No. 7 seed following their loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. 

After making the playoffs in 2019, the Magic attempted to build upon their current roster rather than tearing it down in pursuit of a higher postseason ceiling. They gave Nikola Vucevic a four-year, $100 million extension while signing Al-Farouq Aminu and retaining Terrence Ross.

Rather than improving—or at least standing pat—Orlando has gone backward.

Offense has been the biggest issue. The Magic entered Friday 23rd in offensive rating (107.9), per NBA.com, and they're only hitting 34.3 percent of their three-pointers, good for 25th.

The absence of a true No. 1 scorer is glaring. 

Evan Fournier is enjoying a career year, averaging 18.4 points and shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc. In a playoff series, though, an opposing team will inevitably make him a focus of its defensive game plan. 

The 27-year-old averaged just 12.4 points and went 8-of-34 from three-point territory when Orlando lost to the Toronto Raptors in the first round last year.

The breakthrough for Aaron Gordon has never arrived either, and he's sidelined with a hamstring injury. The sixth-year forward is a solid scorer and rebounder but not the kind of singular difference-maker who can regularly lift his team in big games.

Perhaps head coach Steve Clifford will catch lightning in a bottle this summer and guide his team to the second round or beyond. More likely, the Magic's postseason result will serve as another reminder that the team requires a rebuild or a major reshuffle to eventually take the next step.    

Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon has been ruled out for the remainder of Wednesday's game against the Toronto Raptors because of left hamstring tightness. After the game, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Gordon's hamstring showed no damage and would be re-evaluated in several days. 

Gordon had nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists in 20 minutes of action before exiting.

Gordon, 24, has averaged 14.5 points on 43.8 percent shooting, 7.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for the 32-36 Magic, who are eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando has an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot with a win against Toronto, thanks to the Washington Wizards' 107-98 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in the day.

The 6'8", 220-pound power forward out of Arizona has missed seven games this year because of a sprained ankle, a sore left Achilles, right calf tightness and right knee inflammation.

The Magic have multiple options to fill Gordon's minutes.

Gary Clark figures to see more playing time in Gordon's absence. The ex-Houston Rocket has averaged 3.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.

The Magic can also elect to go small and insert sharpshooter Terrence Ross in Gordon's place. Ross has dropped 14.9 points on 40.9 percent shooting.

Orlando was one of 22 teams invited to Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, for the NBA's restart following a four-and-a-half month layoff because of the COVID-19 pandemic.