The 2020/21 NBA season is coming up very quickly with a start date of December 22. With such a short turn around the Orlando Magic will have a lot to do in a short amount of time, including the draft, training camp, and free agency just to name a few things that we see as fans. They have even more work to do behind the scenes such as figure out potential rotations, two-way players (if we even get a G-League season), health protocols, and more. Here is a quick rundown of key dates and decisions lying ahead according to Andreana Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps.
Trades, and Contract Opt-ins and Outs will be 2-3 days before the draft which is November 18. Here is what this means for the Magic. Evan Fournier and James Ennis will have to decide if they are going to opt in to their final year of the contract. This means that “if” they opt-in, they could potentially be included in a draft-day trade. This is also when they can sign last year's rookie draft pick Chuma Okeke.
The NBA Draft is set for November 18th. This is where the Magic have pick 15 in the first round, and 45 in the second round. You can check out our draft section to learn more about some players in our range and see our mock drafts.
Free Agency will begin on November 20th at 6 pm. The Magic will not have a lot of cap space with the salary cap staying at $109 million and the luxury tax set at $132 million. If the Magic start the season with all players opting into their contract and they have not made any trades they will already have $116 million in guaranteed money. That does not include the salaries of the draft picks and only accounts for 11 players. They will have the Mid-Level Exception they can work with to sign players which is just over 9 million. This is why I suspect they will make a trade.
Training Camp will start on December 1st, though players are already allowed back into the facilities to work out.
The Magic have a lot to figure out in a short amount of time, but so does every team in the league. This will be a quick few weeks for the league and fans.
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