August 18, 2026
Bill Streicher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Franz Wagner only logged 34 appearances last season.
After acquiring Jaylen Brown and LeBron James in the same offseason, Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey has set his new team up to be a full-blown championship contender.
The only problem: Ahead of the 2026-27 season, the Eastern Conference is shaping up to be as competitive as ever.
Over the next two weeks, PhillyVoice will be examining the 10 teams in the Eastern Conference that pose the greatest threats to James, Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and the Sixers.
Up next: the Orlando Magic, whose roller-coaster 2025-26 included a massively disappointing regular season featuring key injuries, a 3-1 playoff series lead against a No. 1 seed and an ensuing collapse.
Is 2026-27 going to be the year Orlando finally breaks through?
SCOUTING THE SIXERS' COMPETITION
Washington Wizards | Orlando Magic
Orlando made very few changes to its standard roster; the Magic's only external addition of the summer was Nikola Vučević:
| Added | Retained | Lost |
| Nikola Vučević | Jonathan Isaac | Mo Wagner |
| Jett Howard |
While the veteran Vučević remains a capable stretch five, his performance against the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs cemented he is far from the player he was years ago. He will team with Goga Bitadze as Wendell Carter Jr.'s backups at the five, and perhaps Orlando will try out some double-big lineups.
The real change made by Orlando: replacing former head coach Jamahl Mosley with Sean Sweeney, one of the league's most esteemed assistant coaches ready to step into a lead role for the first time. Rumors were flying around about Magic players being fed up with Mosley for months before his firing. Now, Orlando will hope Sweeney does a better job of maximizing its talent, particularly on the offensive end of the floor.
Orlando was consistently mediocre or worse offensively under Mosley, but the Magic had an identity rooted in defense and physicality. They lost that defensive dominance last year, though, and were merely a decent team on that end of the floor. Sweeney, the defensive coordinator of last year's San Antonio Spurs, may have new ideas on both ends of the floor.
SIXERS FILM STUDIES
Jaylen Brown's strengths | Jaylen Brown's weaknesses
Anfernee Simons | Dean Wade | Ariel Hukporti
Once again, Orlando will lean on a rotation anchored by wing scorers Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, bookended by Carter inside and a strong three-guard tandem of defensive ace Jalen Suggs, sharpshooter Desmond Bane and the ascending Anthony Black:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Jalen Suggs | Desmond Bane | Franz Wagner | Paolo Banchero | Wendell Carter Jr. |
| Jevon Carter | Anthony Black | Tristan da Silva | Jamal Cain | Goga Bitadze |
| Jase Richardson | Noah Penda | Jonathan Isaac | Nikola Vučević |
Perhaps the biggest addition Orlando could possibly make next season is a healthy Wagner. Injuries limited him to 34 games last season, but when Wagner is healthy he is one of the most impactful forwards in the NBA offensively. In 2024-25, he played 70 games and averaged 24.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists, serving as a critical scorer and playmaker at the same time. Not only does a healthy Wagner provide significant value, but he takes pressure off of Banchero.
MORE: Dominick Barlow 'willing to play wherever' to help LeBron James and Sixers
The only old friend of the Sixers on this roster is Vučević, drafted by the Sixers at No. 16 overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. That was an outstanding pick, as Vučević is about to begin his 16th NBA season as one of the few players from his class still active. Vučević only spent one year with the Sixers before being dealt to Orlando as part of what is remembered around these parts as the Andrew Bynum trade.
SIXERS SIGN LEBRON JAMES
James' decision | Projecting Sixers' rotation | James' impact, on and off the court
