The Orlando Magic added another guard on Wednesday, signing 23-year-old Malaki Branham, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Branham is heading to the Magic after spending the first three seasons of his career with the San Antonio Spurs and last season with the Washington Wizards. What does this signing mean for Orlando?

When Branham was drafted by the Spurs with the 20th pick in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft, they were still in a tanking stage, and while Branham had plenty of chances in his first two years in the league, his inconsistencies on both ends of the floor showed.

Branham’s most productive year in terms of scoring was his rookie season, as he averaged 10.2 points. However, year after year, his scoring totals have fallen along with the games he has played in.

Last season with the Wizards, Branham appeared in just 28 contests and averaged a career-low 4.6 points. However, there is one part of Branham’s game to be optimistic about: His perimeter shooting.

Amid his year-over-year decline in other categories, Branham demonstrated progress in his 3-point shot. During his last season with San Antonio, he shot 40.5% from beyond the arc.

Context is important, though, as Branham was not attempting multiple shots from the perimeter. However, he has shown that the potential is there, and perhaps it is something the Magic can unlock.

For Orlando, this can be a low-risk, high-reward situation. If Branham can improve other parts of his game, perhaps he can become a decent rotational piece for this team.

The Magic have not had a lot of room this offseason to make roster moves at all because of their standing in the first apron. Therefore, a marginal move like this is not surprising. 

In a recent episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast, I discussed the Magic’s offseason transactions that were driven in part by being compelled to follow the rules of being over the first-apron threshold:

"The Magic are in a situation where they are dealing with financial constraints. I've talked about that on this show ad nauseum, and they did, in a way, what they could with their free agent signings. I thought the reunion with Nikola Vucevic was really good. I thought that he could have commanded a little bit more than the veteran minimum, but he wanted to come back to Orlando.

He has a fondness about Orlando and about his time with the Magic. Despite when he was playing for the Magic, those were some of the worst years, only had a winning record just one time; only made the playoffs twice during his tenure here. But, you know, he made it clear he wanted to be back.

It's a decision that goes beyond him. You know, it extends to his family, comforts, you know, things of that nature. So that was good because, you know, Vuc' is still a productive player.

Is he the All-Star that he once was? No, not at 35 years old as a big man, but he could still give you a double-double on any given night and is a surefire upgrade for a bench that, you know, was not great at all last season. But outside of Vucevic, like, bringing back Jevon Carter, bringing back Jonathan Isaac, those are not moves that really elevate this team. And, you know, I guess an argument can be made that there were no moves that they could make to really elevate the group without trading away, you know, one of their core guys."