This superstar's injury has made the Eastern Conference aggressive

The Orlando Magic finished seventh in the Eastern Conference in 2024-25, but they made a huge win-now trade this weekend by dealing four first-round picks, a pick swap, Cole Anthony and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Memphis Grizzlies for shooting guard Desmond Bane. While the team was clearly better than its 41-41 record in a year where Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs all missed significant time with injury, they did not seem one player away from contending.

Until Tatum's injury. Now he's likely to miss most of the 2025-26 season, if not all of it. The Celtics are talking about cutting payroll, not adding talent, at least for this year. The 64-18 Cleveland Cavaliers are still around, but with three very good players 24 and under and the NBA's No. 2 defense, the Magic may believe they can play with anyone, thanks to the upgrade from Caldwell-Pope to Bane.

The Magic aren't the only Eastern team who seems to smell an opportunity. The 30-52 Toronto Raptors traded for former All-Star Brandon Ingram at the deadline and are rumored to be in pursuit of Kevin Durant. Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks tore his Achilles in the playoffs, but the Bucks still seem uninterested in trading superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. The New York Knicks fired their head coach because they weren't satisfied with making the conference finals.

Perhaps it was also the Indiana Pacers' Cinderella journey that inspired them. In 2023-24, the Magic and Pacers had identical 47-35 records. But the Pacers traded multiple draft picks for their own star, Pascal Siakam, and reached the Finals. Without a Celtics juggernaut standing in the way, the Magic may figure, Why can't that be us?