State of the East Set Magic Up for Breakthrough Season

The present state of the Eastern Conference can be summed up in brief: Two significant superstars will miss the season for their teams, opening the door for other contenders to take advantage. Those two superstars are Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton. The Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers, who would otherwise be title contenders, will likely take a back seat this season due to their losses. These injuries open the door to the New York Knicks’ and Cleveland Cavaliers’ of the world, but they’re just the obvious ones. According to LeBron James, another possible contender he expects to make significant noise in the East, thanks to the off-season acquisition of Desmond Bane, is the Orlando Magic, who James believes will have a breakthrough season.

State of the East Set Magic Up for Breakthrough Season

Offseason Desmond Bane trade puts Orlando Magic on track for breakthrough 2025-25 season, per LeBron James

It wasn’t just LeBron who tagged the Magic as a ‘sleeper’ team, but so did his Mind the Game podcast partner, Steve Nash. But it’s not as if the Magic are about to sneak up on anyone, either. They have been building a competitive, playoff-contending team since they drafted Paolo Banchero in 2022. With Banchero growing into his superstar shoes, the Magic have made the postseason in two consecutive years, although they have also made a first-round exit each time. Still, the progress is evident, and so is the potential and growing expectations of Orlando’s roster. That roster just got better with the addition of Bane.

Bane enters the fold as an elite three-point shooter, which was on constant display during his Memphis Grizzlies tenure. While the Magic have scoring talent at multiple positions, it has been their lack of three-point shooting that has contributed to not quite breaking through the next barrier. Long-distance shooting was one element that LeBron and Nash discussed during their most recent episode. Additionally, it is Bane’s presence that has LeBron high on the Magic going into this season.

“The one Achilles heel last year in the postseason for Orlando and throughout the course of the regular season was their shotmaking,” James said. “They just could not make shots outside the three-point line consistently all year. We know how dynamic Paulo is; we know how dynamic Franz [Wagner] is, but three-point shooting means a lot in our league today. Adding Desmond Bane, who throughout his career has been a knockdown shooter and can also get into the lane and make plays, adds a dynamic. We’ll see how it all comes together, but they’re another sleeper as well. I think they can make another step forward. We’ll see how far.”

Paolo Banchero will take a giant leap forward this year

While Bane’s addition to the Magic will be essential, everything will come down to Banchero and his continued growth as an NBA superstar. Banchero has been excellent in his first three seasons, but there is still room to grow. The upcoming season is the perfect window for him to do that. He has the right support in Franz Wagner, Bane, Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac, and Franz’s brother, Mo Wagner, to name a few. The older Wagner brother and Suggs will be returning from significant injuries they sustained last year, but overall, Banchero has a squad behind him.