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Just over thirty minutes into the NBA’s 2020 Free Agency period, reports began to circulate that the Orlando Magic have agreed to deals with a couple of young players that will add needed depth to their roster in ‘20-’21.
Dwyane Bacon has agreed to a two-year deal with the Orlando Magic, according to sources
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) November 20, 2020
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports first broke the news that Dwayne Bacon would be joining the Orlando Magic on a two-year deal. Bacon (25) is a third-year wing who boasts career averages of 5.3 points and 2.3 rebounds (135 career games, 30 career starts, 16.0 minutes per game). Bacon is a career 40.3 percent shooter from the floor, 34.5 percent from behind the three-point line.
The Lakeland, Florida native has spent all three years of his career playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Bacon was coached his rookie season by current Magic head coach Steve Clifford. An FSU product, Bacon also played collegiately with Magic forward Jonathan Isaac.
News came in from Josh Robbins of The Athletic shortly after the initial agreement came to light that Orlando’s reported deal with Bacon will be for the league minimum (with a team option in the second year).
The Magic's agreed-upon deal with Dwayne Bacon, first reported by @VinceGoodwill, will include a team option for the second year, a league source said. All indications are that Bacon will sign via the minimum salary exception. https://t.co/NekaGSGEQn
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) November 20, 2020
Orlando has also made another reported deal with 20 year-old Canadian guard Karim Mane, agreeing to offer Mane one of their two two-way deals.
Excited and humbled to be joining the Orlando Magic All Glory to God! #HISTORY
— Karim Mane (@KarimMane_) November 20, 2020
Karim Mane's deal with the Magic is a two-way contract, per a source.
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) November 20, 2020
Mane was born in the Senegal and moved to Canada when he was seven years-old. Mane has been playing for a “pre-university” prep school (Vanier College) for the past three seasons. At 6-5/195, Mane was a consensus five-star recruit in the 2020 High School Basketball rankings by Rivals, 247, and ESPN.
Robbins reports that Mane possesses a 6-11 wingspan.
The Magic definitely have some open spots on their roster. Yesterday, the Orlando organization announced that they had decided to not offer Wes Iwundu a qualifying offer for this upcoming season, making the third-year swingman an unrestricted free agent. The team also chose not to honor Melvin Frazier’s third-year team option, parting ways with their second round pick from the 2018 draft.
Earlier in the week, forward James Ennis opted out of the final year of his contract with the Magic, making him an unrestricted free agent. It remains to be seen if Ennis will be back with Orlando or not.