The Orlando Magic’s 2026-27 schedule is set, and like every season, they will be seeing the teams they share the Southeast Division with quite a bit.
The difference in the upcoming season is that the Southeast Division will be more challenging than it has been in years past. In the latest episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast, I reiterated with my colleague Andrew Cherico the difficulty of the landscape in this division and how it will challenge Orlando. Below is what I had to say:
"Yeah, for sure. I mean, I've kind of written about it extensively since the height of free agency passed last month, is that the Southeast Division it's gonna be hard. Like, there's no layups anymore, because even if a team like Washington, who has been the bottom feeder of the league for years now — can you imagine if Trae Young and Anthony Davis stay healthy with that young group? That could get dangerous.
Atlanta was the only team to push around the Knicks in the playoffs- the only one. And that was in the post-Trae Young era. They bring back C.J. McCollum. They have those other guys I mentioned. You look at Miami with Giannis and Bobby Portis, those two big additions. Now, I think that team is very thin in depth, and they are gonna be terrible at spacing.
However, if you get them on a night where they're clicking, that is a really hard team to beat. And then you look at the Hornets, like we talked about. So just surviving your division this season is gonna be a task, let alone everything else that you gotta go through."
The Magic had their fair share of problems with the Hawks and the Hornets last season, as the former swept them in their four meetings in the regular season, and even though Orlando had the last laugh over the latter in a season-deciding Play-In Tournament win, it does not change the fact that Charlotte caused loads of problems.
So, the question now is: will the Magic remain healthy enough to contend with the Hornets, the Hawks, or the now star-driven Heat after they acquired Antetokounmpo? What about the Wizards, whose acquisitions of Trae Young and Anthony Davis before the end of last season indicated an aggressive attempt at putting an end to a yearslong rebuild?
Are Orlando’s offseason moves enough to make it viable beyond the core players of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane? There are a lot of questions this season that need to be answered, and we will have them soon enough.