ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic weren’t expected to have a busy trade deadline, and the 3 p.m. Thursday deadline passed with even less movement than most outside of the organization expected.
The Magic’s lone trade: Acquiring Bol Bol and P.J. Dozier, a 2028 second-round pick (protected 31-45) and cash considerations from the Boston Celtics for their 2023 second-round pick (protected 31-55).
To make room for Bol and Dozier, Orlando, which already had the maximum 15 players signed to standard contracts, waived veteran guards E’Twaun Moore (left knee sprain sustained in October) and Michael Carter-Williams (left ankle surgery in August).
Carter-Williams and Moore have been sidelined with injuries. Orlando also waived Dozier, who’s out for the season after having surgery to repair his torn left anterior cruciate knee ligament in December, leaving the Magic with one standard roster spot open after Thursday’s transactions.
“Oftentimes, nothing comes across that actually gets to the finish line. I won’t say we went in with a goal, we just went in trying to understand what potential deals we could explore,” Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said to the Orlando Sentinel Thursday evening. “Bol is a very talented young player. He hasn’t been able to get himself on the right footing at this early stage of his career, but we’re hoping he can do that with us. Getting a future second-round pick is just another asset to put on the shelf.”
Bol averaged 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.8 minutes in 14 games with the Denver Nuggets, who traded him and Dozier to the Celtics on Jan. 19 as part of a three-team trade that included the San Antonio Spurs.
The 22-year-old, 7-foot-2 big man averaged 2.7 points (47.8% shooting and 37.8% on 3-pointers) and 1.2 rebounds in 6.2 minutes in his 53 regular-season games (all with the Nuggets) after originally being selected by the Miami Heat in the second round of the 2019 draft.
He’s sidelined indefinitely after having right foot surgery Jan. 18. When speaking with the Sentinel, Weltman said the Magic will have a better idea of Bol’s status for the season when he joins the team in Central Florida.
The Magic are in the midst of a four-game West Coast road trip that continues against the Utah Jazz on Friday and ends with a matchup against the Nuggets on Monday. Orlando also plays the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.
Bol will be eligible for restricted free agency if Orlando extends the $2.7 million qualifying offer this offseason.
“We’ll have to get our people to get to know him and understand his situation,” Weltman said. “It’s around that timeline — about the end of the season — but I’m really not sure. When we get back from the trip, we’ll get him in here and get an understanding of what he’s dealing with and how far along he is.”
The Magic, who have the league’s second-worst record at 13-43 behind the Detroit Pistons and are in the early stages of their rebuild, were expected to get interest in a few of the veteran players on their roster — Gary Harris, Terrence Ross and Robin Lopez — but ultimately stood pat.
Harris is on an expiring contract that pays him $20.5 million for 2021-22 before he’ll become an unrestricted free agent. Ross is in the third year of a 4-year, $54 million contract ($50 million guaranteed) he signed with the Magic during the 2019 offseason, while Lopez is on a 1-year, $5 million deal.
“I’d never comment on the specific nature of discussions,” Weltman said. “We have players people are interested in and discussions just never progressed to where it was mutually beneficial. We’re happy with the guys on the team and we feel like we’re well-positioned and in a good place. We didn’t expect this to be too busy of a deadline for us. We’re always aggressive, but sometimes aggressiveness doesn’t equal activity.”
The Magic will continue to prioritize developing their younger players, including Cole Anthony, Mo Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr., R.J. Hampton (recovering from MCL sprain), Chuma Okeke, Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner and Moe Wagner.
Markelle Fultz, who’s in the first year of a 3-year, $50 million extension, has been practicing with the hopes of returning this season after tearing his anterior cruciate knee ligament January 2021. Jonathan Isaac, who’s in the first year of a 4-year, $69.6 million extension, also remains sidelined after tearing his ACL in August 2020.
“The veteran guys are really good people,” Weltman said. “It’s really important for what we’re trying to do — we always talk about the character and people as just as important as the player — those guys have been real example-setters and they’ve been a significant part of us developing our young guys.”
Waiving Carter-Williams ($3,300,000), Dozier ($1,910,860) and Moore ($1,669,178 cap hit) means the Magic will have $6,880,038 in dead cap for this season in addition to the aforementioned $2.16 million in salary they added when they acquired Bol.
While they’re over the league salary cap for this season ($112,414,000), Orlando remains below the luxury tax threshold by $18,834,400. The luxury tax is an incremental financial penalty owners pay to the league when their teams are over the tax threshold. The higher over the threshold they are, the higher their annual payment.
Rebuilding/non-contending teams — such as the Magic — especially look to avoid going over the luxury-tax threshold. Every team under the luxury tax receives payments from the league’s luxury-tax distribution.
