re: I'm not sure how this team improves via trade

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Read an article by Shamit I think that suggested Carter,

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Is he really an upgrade over JV?

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Carter’s issues have never been on the offensive end of the floor. But, he is at the forefront of one of Orlando’s biggest deficiencies which is protecting the rim and contesting shots around the basket.

Wendell Carter is already a good offensive center. He is a double-double machine with a sneaky three-pointer. But, his defense keeps him from becoming great. If it gets improved, it will not only help himself but also the Orlando Magic.
As a team, the Magic ranked 15th in team defense as they were in the middle of the road in the majority of stat categories. Orlando ranked sixth in the league giving up 47.6 points in the paint per game. Teams found it difficult to get to the basket against them.
But when they did, they were able to score. According to data from Second Spectrum, the Magic gave up 68.4 percent shooting at the rim, the fourth-worst mark in the league.

Carter despite some solid defensive statistics, struggled in this area too. The centers on the team in general need to become more of an anchor with this issue and Carter’s defense is a start that will not only benefit him but also his team.

Carter did get a good portion of blocks amongst the Magic players (he had 21.2 percent of all of Orlando’s blocks). Keep in mind, that this was also on a team that was average in the block department with blocks per game (15th overall in the league).

The spot on defense where Carter seemingly is exposed is the points in the paint he allows. In each game during the 2023 season, he gave up an average of 29.6 points in the paint to opponents per game. This is the highest mark he has given up in a season so far in his NBA career.

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I'm not even going to entertain the idea of Wendell Carter Jr and JV playing together, or the two of them being our only guys on the roster that can play the 5.