Pressure on Jamahl Mosley in 2025-26 to take Orlando Magic to next level

There’s a lot of hype around the Orlando Magic because of their upgrades in the offseason. They should be one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference, and they should at least get to 50 wins. With lots of hype comes lots of pressure on head coach Jamahl Mosley. 

It’s too hard to win in the playoffs without home court advantage. Since 1984, there have been only 14 teams that were a fifth seed or lower to make the conference finals. The number drops to five for teams that were a fifth seed or lower to make the Finals. Those were the 1994-95 Houston Rockets, 1998-99 New York Knicks, 2019-20 Miami Heat,  2022-23 Heat, and the 2023-24 Dallas Mavericks, per the NBA’s Facts and Figures. 

Interestingly, the fourth seed in the East has averaged 48.2 wins since 1999-00 (not including the shortened regular seasons). Yet, the Magic are more talented than a 50-win team, and they should be thinking of a higher output in the regular season. Don’t forget that when Moritz Wagner regains his form after his ACL tear from last December, the Magic will have one of the best backup big men in the NBA and that’s a premium.. 

Conventional wisdom would lead one to believe that having one of the top players in the East in Paolo Banchero, alongside another All-Star caliber player in Franz Wagner, with added sharpshooting in Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones, should be enough to have a top 10 offense, something the Magic haven’t had since 2010-11. They were fourth and ninth in those categories (which included a finals trip) the seasons before that, too. The highest rating it’s been in the Mosley era is 22nd.