According to Sportrac’s Keith Smith, the Orlando Magic have extended the Qualifying Offer to Admiral Schofield, making him a restricted free agent this summer. In 38 games with Orlando last season, Schofield (6’5″, 241 pounds) averaged 12.3 MPG, 3.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 0.7 APG, all career-highs. In addition, Schofield shot 41.9% from the field, 32.9% from three-point range, and 80.0% from the free-throw line, the best shooting splits of his career.
Schofield was originally drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 42nd pick in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft. Just one day after being drafted by Philadelphia, Schofield was traded with Jonathan Simmons to Washington in exchange for $2 Million. In his lone season with Washington (2019-2020), Schofield received very little playing time, as shown by his disappointing averages of 11.2 MPG, 3.0 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 0.5 APG while shooting 38.0% from the field, 31.1% from downtown and 66.7% from the charity stripe in 33 games.
During the 2020 NBA offseason, Schofield was traded by Washington alongside Vit Krejci to Oklahoma City for Cassius Winston and a 2024 second-round draft pick. Soon after landing in Oklahoma City, Schofield was waived by the Thunder, only to sign a contract with Orlando in September of 2021. Since joining the Magic, Schofield signed two ten-day contracts on December 17th and 27th, and later signed a two-way contract with Orlando for the remainder of the 2021-2022 NBA season.
With Orlando deciding to give Schofield the Qualifying Offer, the Magic didn’t extend the $10.1 Million QO to Mo Bamba, as the 7’0″, 231-pound Center will now enter Free Agency as an Unrestricted Free Agent, with the ability to sign with any team (UPDATE: Bamba will be back in Orlando after re-signing). Bamba is coming off a career year in Orlando, as he averaged a career-high 10.6 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.2 APG, and 1.7 BPG while shooting 48.0% from the field and 38.1% from three-point range in 71 games (69 starts). With the breakout of Wendell Carter Jr., and the addition of the 2022 No. 1 Pick Paolo Banchero, Bamba has become the odd man out in Orlando, but the Magic are still interested in resigning Bamba, per Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer.
The Orlando Magic tendered a Two-Way qualifying offer to Admiral Schofield to make him a restricted free on July 1, a league source tells @spotrac.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 30, 2022