Penny & Pops Podcast - Orlando Magic Basketball

It’s been a frustrating wait as Magic fans watch other East teams improve while we stayed relatively quiet. Until July 1st, where Orlando announced a lot of predictable and mostly underwhelming Jeff Weltman signings. Moritz Wagner says goodbye. But there is some good news, Nikola Vucevic is back. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

It’s very difficult to be optimistic about this franchise’s future when the man tasked with improving this Magic roster continues to sit idly by while other East teams catch up. Just look at the Southeast division alone. Our rival Miami just got a top-5 NBA player. The Hawks keep building depth. Charlotte got better by dumping LaMelo Ball. Even the Wizards now have AJ Dybantsa. Orlando drafted Iza...

We finally got to see and hear Sean Sweeney accept the Orlando Magic head coaching job. As his coaching staff gets filled, the NBA Draft is this week. Jeff Weltman may not even be heard from on day one of the draft, as we only have the 46th pick. It’s clear some type of roster moves need to be done, but don’t tell Jeff that. Whether the Magic get involved in Giannis Antetokounmpo or not, a lot of...

To massive relief, the Magic are not hiring Billy Donovan to be their next head coach, but instead it’ll be 41-year-old highly-praised San Antonio Spurs associate head coach and experienced NBA assistant Sean Sweeney guiding this Orlando franchise next season. The good news is Sweeney’s official introduction will be delayed because he’s got his second NBA Finals to partake in. This is an enormous...

The Magic are in the interviewing phase of their head coaching search. It could be as soon as this week that Orlando names their next hire. Which coaching options out there would we be acceptable with the franchise selecting? All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

The Magic are in offseason mode. We found out Jeff Weltman was hiding his contract extension after all. So there will be no new President of Basketball Operations. There will be a new Orlando Head Coach as Weltman fired Jamahl Mosley around twelve hours after our Game 7 exit, and it certainly feels like Billy Donovan already has the job. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

The Magic decided to traumatize us all and resurrect 2003 by crashing out of the playoffs to Detroit after leading the series 3-1. Obviously the absence of Franz Wagner is why we’re not in the second round. The Pistons win their first playoff series since they beat us in the second round of the 2008 playoffs. Our franchise-long drought continues, we still haven’t won a playoff series since 2010. W...

The Magic are having to navigate the playoffs without Franz Wagner at the moment. Game 5 in Detroit saw a Paolo Banchero-Cade Cunningham duel with each former #1 draft pick scoring 45 points a piece. Rebounds and free throws were the difference in why the Magic lost. The series and the pressure shifts back to Orlando for a Friday night Game 6. Pressure is a privilege and we have an opportunity to...

The Magic won a riveting roller coaster of a Game 4 and are up 3-1 in their first round series. We head to Detroit for Wednesday’s Game 5. If you don’t know about the 2003 Pistons-Magic series, read up on it. Look up the box scores on Basketball Reference. I don’t want a single Magic fan thinking about the possibility of a second round for us until we lock up a fourth victory in this current serie...

Sure they’re the #1 seed. They have an MVP caliber point guard in Cade Cunningham, a defensive beast in Ausar Thompson, and likely another All-NBA guy in Jalen Duren. But we have a Bane. Desmond Bane to be exact. And we took care of our home court advantage and won Game 3. It was almost a brutal loss, but Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero came up clutch in the fourth. Orlando leads the series 2-1 an...

Despite the Magic shooting terribly, it was 46-46 at halftime in Game 2. And then the Detroit third quarter avalanche happened and it was game over. The good news it was less about what Detroit did and more what Orlando didn’t do. Effort was there, but sloppiness and missed shots didn’t help. It’s still 1-1 going back to Orlando. It was never going to be easy knocking off the #1 seed Pistons. Now...

There is no more of an appropriate way to conclude such a bizarre week for the Magic than this: Orlando beats the Pistons to claim Game 1 of this first round series. That’s about as balanced as you can get from your starting five when Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Wendell Carter Jr., and Desmond Bane each post a minimum stat line of 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in the same con...

The Magic won, we handed Charlotte a historic play-in blowout loss at Kia Center Friday night. We’re now in the playoffs. The season continues. We won’t be handing over a lottery draft pick this summer. That’s massive. We’re the 8th seed. It’s a short turnaround now. Game 1 Sunday night on NBC against the #1 seed Pistons up in Detroit. Might as well make a series of it. All of that and more! #Lets...

The Magic get physically beat up in Philly and no other Magic player could offensively support a fantastic Desmond Bane. Franz Wagner hurt his left leg again. Orlando loses, 76ers claim the 7th seed in the playoffs. We now host the Hornets Friday night in a do-or-die game at Kia Center. Winner claims the 8th seed and goes to Detroit for a playoff series. Loser goes on vacation for the offseason. A...

This is your Magic-Sixers Seven-Eight play-in game preview. Wednesday night 7:30 pm Eastern in Philly at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Game will be shown on Amazon Prime. Orlando lost the season series 1-2. I also want to look over some of our players’ stats from the 82-game campaign. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

The most disappointing regular season in Orlando Magic franchise history is over, and man did we go out with a bang: a loss in Boston to the Celtics’ third-stringers. We conclude the regular season campaign 45-37 and fall to the 8th seed in the East. Next up: A Wednesday night play-in road game in Philadelphia. Desmond Bane plays and starts all 82 games of the regular season for the first time in...

I said it in September and I still mean it now: There is no East team that the Magic should fear. The only team in the East that will beat us is ourselves. And we’ve done a lot of that due to: Injuries, point guard and center inconsistencies, dead contracts, an inactive front office, and bad coaching. Plenty of damage has been self-inflicted and we’ve paid for it by falling well short of the 57-wi...

No, no one has been fired yet. The Magic are 39-35. We’re looking at the 8th, 9th, or 10th play-in seed with 8 games remaining in this nightmare campaign. Orlando just racked up some awful historical records in their latest 52-point loss in Toronto from a franchise and NBA level. We deserve to be laughed at by the entire league. This if the worst season in Magic history when factoring in expectati...

To follow up their 7-game win streak, the Magic just endured a brutal 0-4 week. At 38-32, Orlando is as close to the East’s 10th seed as the 5th seed. And there’s still no Franz Wagner or Anthony Black in sight. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

We’re witnessing another good reminder about how much can change during a lengthy 82-game season: Despite all of the injuries, Orlando is currently 38-28, on a 7-game win streak (their longest since November 2023), and owners of the East’s fifth seed in the very crowded standings race. There is no schedule relief in sight as the Magic are accomplishing all of this without the likes of Franz Wagner...

As tumultuous of a season that it’s been, don’t look now but the Magic are 35-28 and have won ten of their last fourteen games. Orlando is the 6th seed again, still navigating injuries and waiting on a Franz Wagner update, but the squad are displaying a pulse. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

The 31-26 Magic showed some fight finally without Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, going 3-1 on their West trip. Orlando did it the hard way, but the stage is set for a crucial 4-game homestand. Franz Wagner being out indefinitely is obviously a huge concern. Jevon Carter is bringing energy. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

I’m seeing some apathetic energy from Magic players. Seeing apathy from Magic fans as a result. And I can’t blame folks for feeling that way. Jamahl Mosley and Jeff Weltman still have their jobs. We’re 28-25 with no signs of the rest of the season improving. Jase Richardson had a painful All-Star weekend dunk contest performance that is fully representative of this 2025-2026 Magic season. Also, Fa...

It’s not often the 27-24 Magic win two consecutive games and yet the viewpoint of the team is as abysmal as if they’d lost those. We beat a depleted Nets squad, and a Jazz team heavily tanking in the fourth quarter. The same Orlando problems exist and all we did at the trade deadline was attach two 2nd round picks to Tyus Jones and jettison him to Charlotte so we could get under the luxury tax. Th...

Do something, Jeff Weltman. I’ve got my stick out and I’m poking. I laid out the Magic’s trade landscape last episode. Now it’s up to the Orlando front office to get off their hands. This team is not the title contender they should be currently. Beyond needing to move on from Jamahl Mosley, Jeff also has to make 1, 2, maybe 3 moves by this February 5th trade deadline to shed salary and still impro...