Butler’s point proven without having to do much

The Orlando Magic should have nearly $50 million in cap space this offseason. That’s enough for Orlando to get in the market for a big-name player, should they want to go that route.

Two players the Magic could have interest in are Paul George of the LA Clippers and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors. George has a player option for next season, which he is expected to decline. Thompson is set to become a free agent when the league year changes over.

Both George and Thompson could ink extensions with their current teams by the end of the day on June 30. But neither player has seemingly made much progress on the extension front.

Orlando has this offseason with near-max cap space, before their roster will start to get expensive. Both Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs are eligible to sign rookie scale extensions this summer. Those deals would start in 2025-06. Paolo Banchero will be extension-eligible in the summer of 2025. An expected max extension for Banchero would start with the 2026-27 season.