Key Takeaways:
No team in the Eastern Conference has exceeded expectations quite like the Orlando Magic. Led by numerous young stars, this year's team has reached the top four and has been as high as second place in the conference after many dismissed them in the preseason as a team too young to produce any kind of noise aside from boos. However, Paolo Banchero, Frank Wagner, Cole Anthony, and their teammates are proving otherwise.
A seven-game winning streak that included victories over the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics has raised the temperature surrounding the Magic in central Florida and around the NBA, and the question now is whether that early season success (16-7 through 23 games) can be sustained throughout an 82-game season. Then it becomes a question of whether this team can win a playoff series, or more, against more experienced competition.
This is what a rebuild through the draft is supposed to look like, and although lots of teams go through the process, few have seen the kind of quick results the Magic are seeing in the 2023-24 season after finishing last season 13th in the East with a 34-48 record.
Stay tuned to this page throughout the season. I will keep it updated with the latest Orlando Magic odds.
| Magic Futures Bet | Odds |
| To Win NBA Finals | +15000 |
| To Win Eastern Conference | +5000 |
| To Win Southeast Division | +125 |
| To Make Playoffs | -325 |
| To Miss Playoffs | +240 |
The Magic were an also-ran last season and were noteworthy only because Banchero won the Rookie of the Year award. But they missed the playoffs for the third straight season, and the rebuild that included purging veterans Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon was expected to be a long and arduous process. They began the 2023-24 season with championship odds of +17500, which have dropped to +15000 to win the NBA Finals. according to the odds at Hard Rock Bet Florida.
Nearly a quarter of the way through the season, the Magic lead the Southeast Division and are trying to show everyone that they are good enough to finish as a top-four team that gets homecourt advantage in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The Celtics, Bucks and Sixers have been considered locks for three of those spots, and most folks thought the Heat, Cavs and Knicks would compete for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. But the Magic have jumped into that conversation, and we shall wait and see if they can continue to win 70 percent of their games.
Given their place in the standings and their relatively long odds, the oddsmakers are looking at the Magic as a "flash in the pan" team. It is one thing to play well in October and November, it is something quite different to do the same in April, May, and June when the playoffs arrive. Usually, experience is the great difference-maker. And because the Magic are so young, the oddsmakers are not considering them a legitimate championship contender at +10000. The teams tied for third in the West (as the Magic are in the East) are the Suns at +700 and the Mavs at +2500 to win the NBA Finals.
| 🏆NBA Finals Championships: | 0 |
| 🏆Eastern Conference Championships: | 2 |
| 🏆Southeast Division Championships: | 3 |
| 🏅Playoffs Appearances: | 16 |
The Magic are so loaded with former high first-round picks and are getting so much from German brothers Frank and Moritz Wagner, who have been playing professionally since they were teenagers in Europe, that it is foolish to dismiss this team as a bunch of kids simply having a November to remember.
Frank and Moritz Wagner were members of the German National Team that won the FIBA World Cup in the summer of 2023, which nobody predicted. Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. attended Duke, a winning school, Cole Anthony went to North Carolina, and Jalen Suggs came out of Gonzaga. These are schools that traditionally make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, so playing high-pressure postseason games is not going to be a new thing for any of their main players -- another reason to look at the Magic odds to win the NBA Finals as a possible enticing wagering opportunity.
But because the Magic have not been a consistent commodity in the NBA for so long, they are easy to dismiss. For savvy gamblers, ascertaining what this team's ceiling is should be the goal. By late December, is they are still winning 70 percent of their games, they would not be the worst wager in the history of wagers to make it to the Eastern Conference finals.
We are not prepared to say they could defeat Boston, Milwaukee or Philadelphia to reach the NBA Finals, but those teams may not still be standing by then. The Bucks went out in the first round last year, and let's not forget that the eighth-seeded Miami Heat made the finals.
When the Orlando Magic look back on their 2023-24 season, they may point to their 112-97 victory over Milwaukee on Nov. 11 as the date when they showed everyone they were a team to be reckoned with. They had defeated the Lakers a week earlier, and consecutive road wins at Chicago on Nov. 15 and 17 started the long winning streak that lasted well beyond Thanksgiving. What were the key dates that preceded that?
📆December 12, 2023: Magic star player Paolo Banchero suffered a scary ankle injury in a game against Boston. Luckily, it was just a rolled ankle and the forward has no injury designation, aiding his +15000 odds at FanDuel to win the Most Improved Player award.
📆Sept. 10, 2023: Germany defeated Serbia 83-77 behind 19 points from Franz Wager to win the FIBA World Cup for the first time ever. Wagner and his brother Moritz were key members of a team that finished 8-0 in the tournament.
📆July 7, 2023: Signed free agent forward Joe Ingles away from the Milwaukee Bucks.
📆July 5, 2023: Promoted Antony Parker from assistant GM to general manager.
📆June 22, 2023: Selected Arkansas guard Anthony Black with the sixth overall selection of the 2023 NBA draft.
Bookmark this page to stay updated on Orlando Magic news and rumors throughout the 2023-24 NBA season.
Paolo Banchero is the leader of this team talent-wise and statistics-wise, but the Wagner brothers (Franz & Moritz) are leaders in their own right because of their professional experience in Europe that preceded their time at the University of Michigan. Cole Anthony has been with the team for four seasons and has blossomed into a very steady producer as the backup point guard behind Black ever since Markelle Fultz was injured, and Goga Bitadze has stepped in admirably for Wendell Carter Jr. at center after Carter broke a finger in the fifth game of the season. This is a successful team without a traditional superstar, although Banchero could become one. These players stick to their assigned roles and carry out Jamahl Mosley's game plans, and they can best be described as a high-character assemblage of very talented youngsters.
Within the regulations of Florida online sports betting, wagers can be made at Hard Rock Bet. And if Anthony produces another 30-point game like he did against the Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 26, you are not going to see him at +650 for the Sixth Man Award. Sometimes, player award futures markets are the best bets out there for those with the patience to wait until June before knowing whether they won.
Most of America will be focused on Week 15 of the NFL schedule, but Magic fans will be looking to see how their tam fares against the team many consider the East's best. The Magic also play the Celtics in Boston on Friday, Dec. 15, as they spend a weekend in Beantown.
This will cap an eight-game stretch against the Cavs and Celtics twice, the Bucks and the Heat, with the only weak opponent the Pistons. That is what we would call a measuring stick stretch. Indiana is right up there with Orlando when folks are talking about overachieving East teams.
This game will conclude a four-game Western swing, and the Nuggets will be revenge-minded after they got beaten by the Magic 124-119 in Florida. The other opponents on the trip are the Suns, Warriors and Kings, so that is not an easy trip.
Orlando's games are broadcast by Bally Sports Florida and can be seen on the NBA App and NBA League Pass. They are currently scheduled to appear on TNT only once, Feb. 13 at Oklahoma City, and on NBA-TV only once, on Dec. 2 at Golden State. The league could shift games to national TV if they choose to do so. Some online betting apps in Florida offer in-app streaming.
The arena box office is always the best choice because you can interact with a human who can steer you to the best seats, but TicketMaster is always an option, and the secondary market is usually flooded with cheap seats to home games within an hour of tipoff. In a tourist city, the Magic might be the best value buy on the market right now.
The Magic have been playing at the Amway Center since it was opened in 2010.
Author
Chris Sheridan, a seasoned NBA writer since 1992, specializes in international basketball and holds credentials for every Olympics since Atlanta 1996. Since the repeal of PASPA in 2018, he's delved into sports gambling journalism. At 58, he defies age on the court, effortlessly hitting 3-pointers and, with the help of a ladder, even throwing down dunks.
Cited by leading media organizations, such as:
