Anthony Black Faces Monday's Deadline With Orlando $2.5 Million Under the Second Apron

Photo: NBA.com. Anthony Black, Orlando Magic.

The Orlando Magic waived Malaki Branham, JD Davison and Kevin Knox on Friday night, and keeping any one of them would have left the roster about $47,000 under the second apron. Orlando now sits $2.5 million under that line with Anthony Black's rookie scale extension deadline arriving Monday at 6 p.m. ET, and the Magic have not been willing to pay him the $22 million a year Brandin Podziemski got from Golden State, per ESPN.

The 15th man Orlando passed on

All three cuts were on Exhibit 10 deals, and all three played in every preseason game. Branham got 11.0 minutes a night, Knox 9.9, Davison 7.8. Nothing technically prevented Orlando from opening with a full 15-man standard roster, per Hoops Rumors. The team now has 17 players under contract, including three on two-way deals.

The Magic are paying the luxury tax this season for the first time in over a decade, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

What Black put on film

Black went from 9.4 points a game to a career-high 15 in 64 games last season, with 3.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 29.8 minutes. He shot a career-best 44.7 percent from the field and had 25 games with multiple steals. ESPN had him on a Most Improved Player track before he got hurt in early March.

Black hit 31.8 percent from deep two seasons ago and 33.3 percent last season.

The $13 million line

ESPN projects Orlando about $20 million under the tax for 2027-28, the first year of any Black extension. To stay there, the starting salary can't top roughly $13 million, below next season's projected $16 million non-tax midlevel. Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane and Jalen Suggs combine for $161.2 million that season, per the Sentinel. Add Wendell Carter Jr.'s $19.5 million and five players clear $180 million.

Podziemski signed for five years and $110 million on Oct. 10. He and Black share an agent, Bill Duffy. Podziemski's deal averages $22 million; ESPN's tax line caps Black's first-year salary near $13 million.

Why Orlando keeps him

Suggs and Bane are under contract through at least 2028-29. One Eastern Conference executive told ESPN the Magic won't trade him even without a deal: "They are under pressure to win this season because of that payroll, and they need him because of (Jalen) Suggs' injury issues."

"It's a business," Black said at the start of camp. "They've got things they've got to worry about. I've got things I've got to worry about. So, if it happens, it happens."

If Monday passes

Without a deal, Black plays this season on his $10.1 million fourth-year option and heads to restricted free agency in 2027. Orlando keeps the right to match, but another team can sign him to an offer sheet. As of Friday, only five 2023 first-rounders had extensions. Over the past three years, 17 of 34 rookie extensions were signed on deadline day.

Black sat out Friday's preseason finale with a right ankle sprain after a full shootaround, and coach Sean Sweeney said the staff will keep ramping him up. Jeff Weltman said at media day in September, "We're in a lot of tighter quarters than we've been in years past." The deadline is 6 p.m. ET Monday, one day before the regular season opens.

Sources

• Hoops Rumors: Magic waive Malaki Branham, JD Davison, Kevin Knox (team release; $2.5MM from second apron, about $47K if one retained)
• Hoops Rumors: Windhorst's latest on Anthony Black, Magic ($22MM per year, Podziemski, Bill Duffy, Eastern Conference exec quote)
• ESPN via TSN: Bobby Marks' biggest extension decisions to watch ($13 million tax line, $20 million under tax, $16 million MLE, 17 of 34 on deadline day)
• Orlando Sentinel: Magic hope to reach extension with Anthony Black ($161.2 million for four, Carter $19.5 million, first tax bill in over a decade, Weltman and Black quotes)
• Hoops Rumors: Magic notes on Wagner, Penda, Black and Sweeney (right ankle sprain, Oct. 16 finale)
• HoopsHype via Yahoo: Sweeney on Black's full shootaround and ramp-up
• Yahoo Sports: Podziemski's extension and Black's $10.1 million option
• Hoops Rumors: 2026-27 NBA contract extension tracker (Podziemski five years, $110 million)
• Basketball-Reference: Anthony Black career stats (31.8 and 33.3 percent from three, 6-foot-7)