Orlando Magic Summer League Preview | Breakdowns and Predictions | Magic Mania
[Applause] [Music] welcome to Magic Mania your Orlando Magic podcast right here on the five reasion sports network I’m your host Jonathan Ron we got Josh and Juan Triple J even though it’s Orlando it’s not Memphis but we still got you guys covered and we got summer league basketball coming up there’s seemingly uh no off season with the uh with the NBA now with the way things are set up so we got summer league just a few weeks after uh the finals obviously we got the draft not too long ago but excited to see that I think it’s two days from now on Friday the Orlando Magic will take the court in Los Vegas and we’ll be showcasing some of their picks including uh D Silva you know their picks from last year black um and who was the other guy Jeff har jet Howard as well so a lot of upside for this Orlando Magic team in this um summer league and a lot of people that really want to maybe make their name as well so I’m going to stop talking we got a bunch of smart dudes with me so I’ll let them talk a little bit more Juan I’ll let you kick it off this time my man we got a couple of intriguing names here in the summer league who are some of the names that really stuck out to you yeah you know you you mentioned it a little bit uh with Anthony black and Jet Howard two of our first round picks from last season definitely want to see what they have of course when you have picks like that who are going to be um you know contributors this upcoming season you got to figure they’re going to be a little bit limited maybe a game or two and then after that they could shut them down but you look at of course Tristan D Silva our most recent 18th overall pick and then you got some guys like Theo madon Isaiah Todd and um yeah jerck Culver former uh sixth overall pick so a lot of players on this roster with some high upside with some potential to make this team and maybe make some noise in this summer league of course uh you know summer League’s been really picking up lately been getting very uh competitive these these guys are trying to find a roster spot and a new home so it’ll be intriguing to see absolutely and and really it’s an intriguing roster that the Orlando Magic is bringing to the summer league because like you said obviously you got Anthony black and Jet Howard the two higher picks for the team last year but on top of that you also mentioned uh Jared Cula right pick number six from 2019 that’s a a fiveyear veteran got some time in the league he has to show something here in the summer league if he wants to continue his NBA career right at this point usually summer league as you see about 50 55% of the roster is is undrafted guys right so when you’re a a top 10 pick fiveyear leran in the league you have to show something but um a couple other guys like you said you know Theo maldon’s been in the league since 2020 you know High second round pick High second round pick Isaiah Todd as well kind of um having a spot in the roster but uh just a couple of good names uh Josh I know you mentioned a few before we even started who were the some of the names that intrigued you going into this one in particular uh Jay Huff he was the uh G League’s defensive player of the year I think um you know the summer league is is uh a good showcase for these guys and I think uh you know having that success in the g- league let’s see what he does in the summer league for the magic um you know um and then obviously Anthony black jet Howard I mean these guys continue to develop with the organization so you know I’m excited uh summer league is always an exciting time to see you know how these young guys uh develop per warm and you know showcase out in Vegas I mean I know it’s you know it’s hot out there but uh you know these guys got a a job to put on so I’m excited for Friday absolutely so let’s get right into some of these names right and I think we should kick it off with this year’s draft pick let’s talk about Tristan the Silva right the guy that’s supposed to be bringing some shooting to the team you know he has good defensive uh skill set as well so he really brings like a high Lev three andd player from the college perspective Translating that into the co into the summer league at first and then the NBA so Josh I’ll let you kick it off this time with this one what do you expect to see from this summer league performance out of uh yeah I want to see if he uh lives up to the hyp you know this team the the Orlando Magic needs offense right you know so that’s why we drafted him um you know he put up some great numbers in Colorado and you know we’ll we’ll see him uh have a a chance to shine uh in Vegas for sure you know I think like you said the shooting is going to be key I think you’re going to get get to see him with a lot more on ball reps alongside Anthony BL right you’re going to get to see Anthony get to try to Showcase maybe a little bit of that playmaking a lot obviously the defense is what’s known from Anthony black right but you’re G to get to see him just be a more of a high usage type player in this summer league being the spotlight pick that you know you want to grow during this time like a lot of these players they’re trying to make their name and make the roster but there’s a few guys like Anthony black like uh Dil that aren’t really trying to make the roster they’re trying to make themselves bigger to get or or better to make get minutes on the roster right that’s really their goal at this point so for D Silva like you said just I’m curious to see how much um he gets to use as that side of things one what do you expect to see out of Tristan and D Silva yeah you know what I’m really looking forward to seeing is how how good is he as a pro you know his his big um the pros for him was you know his High basketball IQ being able to knock down three-pointers and things like that so you know when given the opportunity I would like to kind of like how Josh said be able to knock down the three and I really want to see how he defends you know some of the the knocks on him was getting blown by small smaller offensive guards and things like that so we’ll see how that works because you know how coach Mo likes his defense and I think that’s really something with a lot of the young players that’s what determines whether you get on the court and see some play time and I think we’ve seen that in the past before you know Mario honia and some other former draft picks even jet Howard you know their their defense isn’t there yet so why you see them maybe ride the bench a little earlier in their career or go back to the g- league to develop some more but you know when you get a player like like the Silva who’s 23 year old rookie um you know you kind of want to see them a little bit more Pro ready so that’s something I’m really gonna you know try to keep my eye out for on uh Friday absolutely and I think that’s a great point because this Orlando Magic team is known for their defense so that’s what this team they’re going to look for for some of these guys right you’re going to have to play defense first and show that you can kind of guard on that NBA level you know you mentioned uh jet Howard right he only had what was it I under 70 minutes on the magic playing last year right he uh uh so didn’t really get those reps because you want to see those defensive side of things and you know he brings that other three-point shooting as well kind of that microwave score that guy can heat up averaging you know 18 19 points a game in the g-league but you’re gonna want to see those things so let’s transition to that we got a couple seconde guys right both of them didn’t have necessarily the first year that you maybe want to have out of a rookie player right even though they were you know pretty high picks um what do you expect uh Juan from from those two young guys like what are some of the jumps you expect to see from some of them yeah you know um they’re both very in my opinion just kind of different cases just because jow is the 11th a former 11th pick and then you got Anthony black who’s a six pick and that’s you know when you when you’re talking about a front office perspective that’s a pretty big difference and uh you know Anthony black he’s a pick that has to pan out you talk you look back at at former six overall picks I mean that’s a big uh draft choice and that’s a potential Cornerstone piece and that’s that’s the intention when you make that pick and when you pick someone like Anthony black who’s a 6A guard who’s supposed to grow into his body develop well here we are year two and it came just like that so um got to see if uh everything from last year all that experience he gained and he got a lot of play time last year seon if that you know separates him when when he’s on the court I expect Anthony black to definitely be the best player on the court when he’s out there at least that’s you know the hopes and the same with J Howard you know he spent all all of last season for the most part getting reps in the G League you know averaging a good amount of points so let’s see if that that first year of being a pro is really paid off for them and uh you know the front office needs it Marquel fold still hasn’t been resigned still looking for that you know backup point guard role to be filled in so uh I would say Anthony black has has some eyes on him when it comes to the front office and and fans and things like that yeah I agree with that one um you know I think uh with with their experience you know Jet Jet uh being in the g- league and then you know having some time uh with the Orlando Magic and then Anthony Black coming off the bench um it’s almost it makes me think of uh Ben Simmons a little bit you know he had that uh kind of lull in his uh freshman year and then you know he uh hit the core in his second year so so I think um you know these guys get a a good time to you know show how they’ve actually developed and a lot of times for these seconde players you see the game start to slow down a little bit for them right you start them to they start to make these reads a little bit better they start to understand positioning a little bit better and you know the Player Development for the magic for a long time hasn’t been the best but over the past couple of Seasons you’ve definitely seen an uptick from the growth of a lot of the young players now sure a couple of their young guys had their growth was stunted due to injury right maybe like guys like Jonathan Isaacs or things of that nature you want to see some more of that but um the guys that have been healthy you know Paulo Monero right France Vagner just signing a super max extension these guys Jaylen Suggs as well like Josh says the hard and soul of this team and uh right now you have you know a defensive dogs when it comes to the back court with this team now but you know it’s it’s been a changing of the tide when it comes to the development for this Orlando Magic team so I do expect to see good things from Anthony black and Jet Howard I do think we’ll see some raw moments from them still there’s still um a lot of polishing that I think both ni both guys need to see um but I will disagree with you ju I don’t think um Anthony black will be the best player there I I do think um he might be the guy that’s going to be holding the ball and you know having that but I do think we’ll see more usage out of the Sila right I I think we’ll see a lot of um you know from black you’re going to see the defensive impact that’s what you’re going to really look for and he is going to be the one that’s going to be probably the primary offensive Creator but as far as like the pure scoring threat I expect them to try to feed to Silva because the most important thing for this team that what they need is shooting so that’s what I want them to see work on the most this summer league whatever it may be whether it’s from Silva whether you see Anthony black being able to start maybe take some you know spot up three-point shots and add that to his Arsenal out a more consistent level I think those are a few things you want to see from these young guys uh coming in on that aspect now let’s get to a couple of the other names um Josh I know you mentioned earlier um the center who won Defensive Player of the Year in the g-league and obviously this magic team we have a couple guys at the center position but no one that really sticks out so what does he bring differently than the other two centers on this team brings yeah I mean uh coming out the G League he’s the was the uh defensive player of the year so you know it’s top honors um and we’ll get to see him you know perform so I think uh you know with a guy like Jonathan Isaac who he’s had some health issues in the past right so uh maybe they can use a guy who still has that hunger and um you know maybe maybe there’s a spot on the team for him so definitely like you said especially when health is a is such a big concern you need bodies so the team still has if I’m correct me if I’m wrong two two-way contracts open uh for players right so you know a lot of teams they have their roster set there’s still two spots on this team and you know I think really if you can get a mix of two of a are a guard a three-point shooter and a solid backup big I think two out of three of those is ideal for what this team wants to look for in that position um and and with that like you said just that backup big someone who can you know move his feet defensively who can clog up the paint right even if you have you know one or of jaylen’s sugs or kcp on the bench and you have someone that’s not as good at the point of attack you have someone in the back Lane and or maybe that can just take a body this league has become you know it’s evolved from being a wing League back to almost again being a league of The Bigs like you’re seeing the guys like yic the guys like embiid even Giannis ad right these guys are so big even I mean you look at Memphis or not Memphis Minnesota sorry you know they go double big yeah yeah that’s a great point you know this is a league that’s becoming a lot bigger so to have someone even just in your back pocket that potentially just can give a little bit of trouble put a little bit of body on some of those bigger players that’s what you want out of that and and on the other end of things uh Juan the guy you mentioned as well um jarro Culver you know he was a guy that you know obviously started off with the Suns at the time the Suns weren’t necessarily the team um you know they were still rebuilding with Devon Booker they had some younger guys coming in and out also not the best development Squad so you know you have to give an understanding that that they really haven’t developed that many players even Devon Booker kind of peaked out pretty early you know you haven’t heard too much about him lately although he’s still Elite don’t get me wrong but um what do you expect out of Jared Culver like what are some of the things you think he can bring to this squad that might warrant a two-way contract or a spot on this roster yeah you know he’s a player I really am intrigued to see you know we talked about already a former sixth overall pick uh this is a guy that LED Texas Tech to the National Championship he was a part of that team which I me you technically don’t you typically don’t hear about Texas Tech making it far into the tournament but Jer cver was a part of that team his career definitely has not panned out as you see he’s on a summer league uh Team looking for a job so you know 66 he’s one of those uh Wing type players that you really want in the NBA which is why he got picked within the top 10 uh I think he he brings it all if if he’s able to tap into that poti itial that got him there you know the defense the scoring um and the size you know being able to guard one through three and maybe four if needed uh I think that would be invaluable to to the magic and they could really use that you never could use too many of those kind of guys and if he can get even close to what uh you know the sun saw at at sixth overall back in his draft which was a pretty big draft I’m pretty sure that was the Zion and the jobar draft um if I’m not mistaken but if he can just tap into some of that I think you know he could be a player that could earn that one of those roster spots I mean yeah I mean you’re talking about some of those names in the draft just looking back at it like you said Zion jaw you know you had Jared Culver but after them you had like you know guys like ruy uh PJ Washington Tyler hero who’s on the heat right um you know Grant Williams at 22 ma well matis cball is not good anymore but he was a good Defender you know what I mean like yeah you know so like you said just lot of players um you know even like chuma oiki right he was on the magic for a little bit he hit some shots every time we were there it felt like you know you got 28th pick Jordan P so uh yeah man like you said a lot of um you know potential there especially with such a deep draft they saw something to take him at sixth overall so you definitely want to see him kind of fill out and and you know maybe be that guy that can fit within like that two3 roll you know be a backup or a deep backup you know someone that can do a little bit of of everything as well so um overall let’s get into um you know some predictions obviously summer league is is crazy right you know predicting summer league is never easy but um as far as the schedule goes I think the first team we play is it is it Brooklyn or is it Cleveland uh Cleveland okay so so with that side of things um I’m gonna pull up the schedule so everybody that’s watching can actually see it as well but yes so we have Cleveland on Friday starting off things we have pelicans on the Sunday um we get to see Zach Edy on uh next Wednesday July 17th we got Brooklyn after that um and then after that it’s the preseason folks so um yeah so as far as as far as that side of things let’s get into a quick four game prediction for that um and want to let you kick it off my man we got like I said you know Cleveland Pelicans uh Grizzlies and Nets you know give me a quick four game prediction and also who are some of the young players if you know any of course right who are some of young players out of those squads that you’re maybe looking forward to see uh yeah first thing that stands out is definitely Zach Edy on that in that Memphis game um I’m also looking I don’t really remember the drafts from from Cleveland and New Orleans and those guys but definitely Ed um Memphis has already been playing so they’re all warmed up and things like that so that’ll be a good challenge um you know I’ll be generous and give it about a a two and two you know this it’s going to be interesting and I’m basing that off of you know jet Howard and Anthony Black’s play time I don’t think they’ll I think we might see two games from them Max and then just kind of you know unless you know unless jet Howard needs to see more play time which let’s hope that’s not the case but um I think we’ll probably see two games out of them and then let the rest of the guys try to battle out for that roster spot um but I think you know a lot of those players didn’t play in that Cleveland series but you know maybe they’ll try to get a little get back early on for that uh that game seven series and and get a quick win against the the Cavs to get the summer league started but I think you know these teams they’re all you know lower end teams when when you look at at least like well mainly just Brooklyn and Memphis but um you know teams that are drafting a lot right now trying to get younger players so it’ll be interesting to see but I think a solid two and two throughout summer league will be reasonable Josh I agree I agree I’ll go with two and two as well I like that um um yeah definitely looking for that forward to that Grizzlies game with uh Ed um you know uh I’m not exactly sure what uh you know if there’s any been like high draft picks with the other teams but uh I I think you know Brooklyn’s looking like they’re probably in a rebuilding phase in a way with uh uh Bridges going to the Knicks um and I think you know the magic it’s because they they’ve always have this Underdog spirit I think uh you know outside of Howard Silva and black I think you know there’s some guys on that team that you know they they want to get on a on a main Squad so I think um we’ll see uh some pop from that so I I’ll go with a solid two and two yeah no I think that’s a that’s what I was going to go with also you know um looking at some of the just draft it doesn’t look like um like you said Zack the obviously was the highest pick I don’t see a pick for the Pelicans on that end but I do see that Cleveland took uh jayon Tom Tyson you know it’s is a guy looks like he’s a known for being more so of a Defender you know on that side of things um got a little bit of shooting um got a little bit of spot up shooting so curious to see uh kind of the defensive matchup that you’re going to be able to see from him versus Jet Howard right because you’re gonna want to see some of that defensive growth from that end so you’re gonna want to see a little bit of that obviously Josh Yi nobody rest nobody necessarily outside of you know who Josh mentioned at the center position that really can maybe just match up with him one for one that you’re the matchup you’re looking for right there’s nobody here that you’re really looking to to match up with that but um definitely looking forward to seeing how some of the Wings match up with the opposing team wings and how we do defensively the defensive growth and the shooting of this team is really the two main keys that we’re going to be looking out for this summer league but as always guys we appreciate you checking us out we’re 20 minutes deep and we got summer league ball coming here in a couple days for the Orlando Magic for Josh and ju appreciate you guys taking some time out yourday and if you’re watching make sure you guys like if you don’t like make sure you guys uh you know tell us why that we sucked because you know just at least let us know and then um if anything you guys can always just subscribe and you know send your hate more if you guys hate us but as always guys we appreciate you for watching um we’ll get you guys covered next week with some maybe some postgame coverage as well for some of the summer league if we see some of these guys popping off but we’ll keep you covered right here on the F region Sports Network and Josh what does the uh how do we end these podcasts go magic
In this episode the guys break down the upcoming summer league for the Orlando Magic
