New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby goes in the for the dunk as Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs defends Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

NBA Cup has shaped Magic for the better

Originally posted on Orlando Magic on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Dec 17, 2025 8:29 PM ET

The Orlando Magic may not have won the NBA Cup this season, but they are walking away a better team because of the tournament.

While they would have rather have beaten the New York Knicks in the semifinal and the San Antonio Spurs in the final, the Magic are a better team after the tournament than they were walking into it.

The Magic are a team on the rise that has not played in very many high-level games together as a team. Orlando was in a seven-game series with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2024 NBA playoffs and then made it to five games against the Boston Celtics last season, but playing in the NBA Cup gave them a chance to experience more high-level basketball as a unit.

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Magic are proof why NBA Cup is positive for the league

There are still skeptics from the tournament, even three years in. Most of them coming from teams that haven't gotten a taste at getting close to the money.

In the three years the tournament has existed, the Magic have seen consistent improvement In 2023, they were 3-1 but failed to make it to the knockout stage. Last year they once again went 3-1 but lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks. This year, they made it to the semifinal and got a taste of Las Vegas in the process.

Whether or not the league decides to keep the tournament's final in Vegas is another story, but the NBA Cup gave the Magic a chance to buy into competitive, playoff-like basketball when they may not have gotten a chance to do so otherwise. That could do wonders for the team as they try to make it further in the playoffs this year than they have ever before.

Teams like the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder have parlayed positive NBA Cup experiences into NBA Finals appearances, and the Magic hope that they will be able to do the same.

In the meantime, they return to their regularly-scheduled programming when they face off against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at 9 p.m. ET.