Through the first quarter of the 2024-2025 NBA season, the Orlando Magic have been one of the biggest surprises early in the year. Despite losing star forward Paolo Banchero to an oblique injury, the Magic boast a 16-9 record through the first 25 games of the year.
With legitimate title aspirations just around the corner, the Magic are now in a position they have not been in for over a decade. Even with Banchero expected to return soon, Orlando could position themselves as buyers at the upcoming 2025 trade deadline.
As one of the youngest rosters in the NBA, the Magic have an abundance of assets on their roster to potentially use as trade candidates. After falling out of the rotation in his fifth season, 2020 first-round pick Cole Anthony headlines that group, making him the top player general manager Anthony Parker needs to move before the deadline in February.
Why the Magic need to trade Cole Anthony
Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (50) dribbles in the second half at Frost Bank Center.
Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
For the first time in his five-year career, Anthony is averaging less than 10 points per game through the first 22 games. He isn't even close, averaging just 4.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game; career lows across the board. As an athletic scorer, his scoring regression is a drastic drop-off from the 11.6 points he posted a year ago and career-high 16.3 he notched in 2022-2023.
Anthony's reduced numbers have nothing to do with his own skills. He has not developed the way the team had hoped he would, but his decreased production is solely due to diminished playing time. After seeing the court for 22.4 minutes per game in 2023-2024, Anthony is averaging just 10.1 minutes per outing in 2024-2025. From the way he is being used, one would think that he is earning a veteran's minimum salary and not on the $39 million extension he signed last October.
More than anything, Anthony is just the biggest victim of Orlando's current surplus of guards. Since being selected just outside the lottery in 2020, the Magic have added Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black, Jett Howard and Caleb Houstan to their perimeter rotation. Aside from Howard and Houstan, all of them have surpassed him in Jamahl Mosley's relatively loose rotation.
From a pure scoring perspective, Anthony might still be the Magic's best guard. Yet, his playmaking is not on the same level as Suggs or Black. However, defense remains his biggest issue, as Mosley clearly prioritizes that aspect of the game in his perimeter rotation that also features defensive-minded veterans Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Gary Harris.
While still young in his career, Anthony deserves a fresh start with a new team. The Magic just need to move him before his value dips any further. For their sake, $12 million per year is a lot to pay for a third-string point guard.
Jett Howard's emergence has negatively affected Cole Anthony
Of the young guards Orlando has acquired via the draft in recent years, there is no doubt that Howard has been the biggest disappointment. As the No. 11 overall selection in 2023, Howard has bounced back and forth between the Magic and their G-League affiliate, the Osceola Magic.
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In just 41 career NBA games, Howard is averaging just 2.9 points per game in his first two seasons. Regardless, as a 6-foot-6 shooter, he is still a potentially valuable piece that Mosley has yet to unlock. Through 22 games in 2024-2025, the Magic make just 11.8 three-pointers per game, the seventh-lowest mark in the league.
As a result, Howard has slowly seen his playing time increase. His minutes still vary, but Howard has seen his court time steadily increase each month of his second season, even if it is miniscule.
Perhaps Mosley and the Magic are hoping to see a second-year leap from Howard that would make Anthony even more expendable and it just isn't happening as quickly as they hoped. Whatever it may be, Howard's increase in minutes has been taken from Anthony. The former saw his playing time increase to 11.1 minutes per game in November as the latte's simultaneously dipped to 8.9.
Even with the plethora of guards at Mosley's disposal, the Magic still lack a reliable true point guard on their roster. Perhaps Anthony is a tool they use to acquire one, allowing Suggs to shift down to his natural shooting guard position. During the first week of December, Orlando has emerged as the betting favorite to land De'Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings. Anthony would make a lot of sense on the Kings next to Demar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis.
Parker could also use the North Carolina product to solve their long-standing issue at center. Whatever it may be, Anthony still has a lot of trade value as a 24-year-old with two years remaining on his contract.