EP. 535 – Summer League Studs – Orlando Magic Podcast

EP. 535 – Summer League Studs – Orlando Magic Podcast

This is the Sixth Man Show, an Orlando Magic podcast with your hosts Kevin Tucker and Jonathan Osborne covering all things Magic Basketball by fans for fans. Go Magic. What’s going on Orlando Magic fans? You guys are back with the six-man show. Today is July 14th, 2025. Jonathan Osborne here and as always joined by my co-host Kevin Tucker. Kevin, what’s going on? Not much, man. How are you? I’m doing good, dude. Uh, first couple of summer league games out of the way here. Uh, Sunday night’s game in particular was as summer league as it gets, which I know we will talk about. We also have a great conversation with our friend Dan Savage working over there at Orlando Magic.com as the director of digital news. got to talk rebrand, Desmond Bane, Taius Jones, Mo Vagner, rookies, summer league, Uno, Uno, Boy Meets World, like you know, we we got into all of it with Dan Savis. So, appreciate him taking the time. So, stay tuned for a little bit later in the episode to talk about that. But really quickly, if you’re watching on YouTube, did you know that just 53% of the viewers of each of our videos on average are subscribed? So, if you’re here to the channel, whether you’ve been watching for a little bit or a lot of bit, go ahead, click the subscribe button. Really helps out the channel a lot, you want to click that bell. You can also get notifications anytime we upload videos, which is at least twice a weeks, twice a week. Twice a week, all season long, even throughout the off season. And then during the season, two episodes a week, postgame lives. After every episode, we’re going to start pushing out more short form content as well. We did a a video of that last week. If you haven’t checked that out, go ahead and watch that talking all about the Magic’s perfect off season in our completely biased opinions, but that’s neither here nor there. Uh, but yeah, uh, Magic news, not really Magic news, but I do still think it’s relevant. We haven’t really known what’s going on with Cole Anthony after being traded to Memphis Grizzlies. Shams reported yesterday, I believe it was, I believe that was either Friday or Saturday, that Memphis is working towards a buyout with Cole Anthony. It already seems like he has a team that he’s going to in the Milwaukee Bucks, who definitely needs some guard help and some guard depth. So Cole Anthony traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, but it looks like he is on his way to Milwaukee. Still going to be a good team playing with Jiannis and Tedakmpo. So seems like a good situation for Cole Anthony and playing with Gary Harris, lest we forget. Correct. reunited. Um I depending how much that guy plays, but yeah. Yeah, true. I would like permission to speak freely, Jonathan. Do I have that? You always do. Great. Here’s what I’m about to say, and I and I want to be I want to say this in the nicest way possible. Okay, this is what I’m about to say is zero disrespect towards any players or anything like that. I I I want us to once again briefly look at the Desmond Bane trade because we were told by casuals and by national media, not all of them, but but large sections that this was a massive overpay and and obviously people talk about the draft picks and that’s fine. But a phrase that was used so commonly after that trade was and the Magic gave up two very serviceable guards. Like wow, they gave up two guys. They’re going to play. They’re going to contribute to Memphis right away and all these kinds of things. And I genuinely mean no no disrespect to Cole Anthony. I really don’t. But Memphis decided they didn’t want to keep him. Memphis wanted to trade him. They did not have a trade market for Cole Anthony, so they had to buy him out. And now he is signing with the team of his choice. And it looks like Milwaukee. Again, as we’ve said for weeks now, ever since this trade, I wish nothing but the best for Cole Anthony. I hope he has a great career. I hope his next stop is what rejuvenates his career. However, looking at it from a magic lens, look at the trade. Look at what it was. I got sick and tired of hearing national people hype all this stuff up. It it’s it’s a tale as old as time. So when I tweeted when this trade happens, player plays for the Magic, no one talks about him. Player is traded from the Magic and now he gets hyped up and it it’s just it happened again. It happened again. They hyped him up, but then reality sets in and it’s like, look guys, we tried to tell you, but they don’t listen. I’m done my rant now. That’s all I have to say. So right now if if we kind of look at everything the way it’s breaking down the trade was we traded away Contavius Cwell Pope the 16th pick which they ended up moving and and using to draft Cedric Coward. It’s the you know 2026 Washington Phoenix swap a 2029 swap and then a 2031st that hopefully in five years like the Magic are still going to be really good. So, and Cole Anthony, who they waved, which essentially like was a deemed a negative asset, a guy who’s, you know, what, 24 25 years old that you’re buying out, like those aren’t usually buyout candidates, right, at this point, and a guy who was making, I think, like 12, $13 million a year. So, I don’t know what exactly their agreement came to, but like that not a cheap move for Memphis to have to make because Cole got traded. He’s not about to leave, you know, $10 million on the table just so he can go play somewhere else, right? And they’re they’re paying him to not play for their team now, right? And again, all I not all I heard, I’m trying not to exaggerate, I heard frequently when the Bane trade happened was, “Oh, they gave up. Wow, look at the guys they gave up. KCP and Cole Anthony, man. Cole Anthony, you know, all and now look look how look how silly those people look. And again, it goes to show you this is one of the main reasons why this show exists. You can’t listen to the national media. They don’t know everything. You can’t listen to the casuals. Whether you’re a Magic fan and you’re looking for Magic content or you’re a Buccaneers fan, you’re looking for Buccaneers content, whatever, go to the local sources. Go to the to the people that cover that. They they know the team the most intimately. Doesn’t mean we get it all right. We don’t. Doesn’t mean we’re not biased cuz we are. We get things wrong all the time, but we at least have a pretty good pulse on what’s happening within this team because that’s all we know. That’s all we do. We just watch this team. We love this team. And all that to say again, it just it just made the the casuals in the national media look very silly once again. Yeah. Apart from that, the God Shamgod and Joe Prunty like coaching hires have been made official. The Magic the Magic announced that, you know, later last week. So, but as we’ve been talking about, God Shamgod who sounds like primarily was like, you know, player development. Um, you know, a little bit of scouting stuff for Dallas as well. uh but like as a specialist helping guys develop their handle and for guys like Jace Richardson, Jaylen Suggs, Anthony Black, like the guys that were really going to be giving the ball to a ton, that’s going to be massive. And then Joe Prunty, which if you remember it, you know, or maybe you haven’t been following the team for that long two seasons ago, so what would that have been? The 2023 2024 season. At the beginning of the year, the Magic Lost head assistant at the time, Nate Tibbitz, who left to coach the WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury, who by all accounts, and from what we understand, was kind of like the offensive coordinator, you know, to a certain extent. And the Magic haven’t really filled that role. Um, but hiring God, Sham God, hiring Joe Prunty, Joe Prunty really seems like he’s going to be the guy to fill that role. And now Jesse Mermis, who was one of the lead assistants for the Magic the last couple of years since Nate Tibbitz has left, he’s also leaving for Phoenix, but he’s leaving for the Phoenix Suns. So, we did kind of have questions like the Magic are adding two assistants. Are there going to be any other moves to, you know, the the bench or the coaching staff, so Jesse Mermis is on his way out. So, I’m excited for Joe Prunty. really both of these guys, but Joe Prunty especially um you know does bring a lot of that like baseline out of bounds, sideline out of bounds, like after timeout, you know, kind of drawing up plays and and stuff like that. So excited to hear a bit more, you know, maybe at at media day on what his responsibilities are going to be like specifically for Mosley staff. Um, but something that we have been asking, um, and Jamal Mosley was even asked about it in the exit interviews, like would you consider bringing another person on staff to help with the offense? And Mosie said, “We’re going to leave no stone unturned and was emphatically excited to get some offensive help.” Like before, forget who asked the question, but before they could even finish the question about, you know, are you looking forward to getting some offensive help, he’s like, “Yes, yes, absolutely, yes.” So, um, yeah, excited about both of those coaching hires. Yeah. And also what I love about both of them in addition to those things, they’re both very wellrespected, long tenured NBA assistant coaches. They aren’t these aren’t some assistant coaches pulled from the college ranks, which isn’t always a bad thing. I I don’t want to make it sound like that, but when guys have been around the league for double-digit years, multiple teams, same team doesn’t matter, you know, they’re well respected, well trusted, and so to be able to pull those guys away from their current situations, I think is a pretty big deal and something I’m definitely excited to see how they mesh with Mosley and with the the entire staff and players. Yeah. Other than that, I mean, this is kind of the the dead part of the season in terms of like transactions and news. As we’ve talked about, you know, in multiple pods and and videos that we’ve put out, it does seem like the Magic’s off season is is over. You know, they may make one or two additional and kind of minor moves, but like transactionally, we’re getting into like the dog days of summer here. And now we’re into Summer League, which is where we’re going to take the conversation. Now, obviously really excited to see Tristan Dilva, Jace Richardson, Noah Penda, some of the other guys on on the roster as well. Uh, but so far through two summer league games, the Magic are 0 and2 uh with combined six-point uh margin of defeat, they lost by three points to the Kings on Thursday, lost to the Raptors by three on Sunday. Tristan Dilva three at the buzzer, did not fall, which would have tied the game. So, the Magic lose to the Raptors. And then the Magic were down I I want to say it was like, you know, nine or 10 points with like four minutes to go and that game seemed like it was over and then all of a sudden like the Magic came back, cut it to two or cut it to three and ultimately weren’t able to get the win there. Um, but I I did want to take a couple of minutes. You know, we’re not going to really talk too much about the overall like team performance because, you know, 90% almost of the guys that are on these rosters aren’t going to play, you know, on the main roster for the Magic. And the way that the team is playing, I don’t really think is as important. But, u obviously, we want to go through and and talk about some of these guys. So, I’m going to go through some of the box score stuff from the first two games. So, from Thursday’s game against the Kings, Tristan Dilva I thought looked great. He had 19 points in 28 minutes, seven rebounds, five assists. Jace Richardson 14 points, five of eight from the floor, two of three from behind the arc, had a three at the very beginning of that first summer league game. There’s like a pick and roll. Defender went under. He kind of just steps back, pulls up for three, nothing but net. It was just nice to see a guy like with that skill set. And then Noah Penda, eight points, three rebounds, four assists, two steals. Did a little bit of everything. Four of nine from the floor, 0 of three from behind the ark. Had a kind of like rough like first quarter and a half, but as the game went on, like you saw, you know, the defensive potential. you saw his like I I I don’t want to say he’s a phenomenal passer, but he’s a really good like connecting passer and his ability to like use his body and you know go and crash the boards, get rebounds, but also like be able to get in there and and score and like finish over other defenders. um like those three guys specifically like you saw the flashes and and what the magic Tristan year two we want to see that improvement but especially like out of the rookies like you’re kind of seeing the vision that they have and the the players that they can be. Scallabisier who feels like has been in the league forever. I I was a little bit surprised when I saw that he’s 29 years old at this point was really good in that first game. 14 points, five rebounds. Uh and then Ethan Thompson, the Magic have him on a two-way. He had 16 points in 25 minutes in the first game. Was three of six from behind the ark. So, a guy that’s able to add a little bit of shooting. And then we’ll talk about Sunday’s game as well against the Raptors, which was the most summer league game I think I have ever watched. To give you an idea of what that means, these two teams combined for 63 free throws and let’s see, it was 59 personal fouls and 51 turnovers in this game. Like was as ugly as it gets, but Tristan Dilva 18.6 of 13 from the floor, three of seven from behind the arc. started the game three straight threes like corner three, corner three, then like step back from the right wing, hit a three as well. I think the Magic started the game up two to zero and then like he goes on his little run and it’s like 11 to four like really early on in that game. Um but Tristan was really solid. Jace Richardson 19 points, seven out of those 19 came in the second half. Five of 10 from the floor, one of three from behind the arc, but eight of nine at the free throw line, a 6-1 guard. As you know, physical as this game was, the Magic only shot 20 free throws. The Raptor shot 43. I know I’m the guy that always complains about officiating, it’s it took everything in me not to comment on it during this game, but I don’t feel like the Magic got a fair whistle. Like the the Raptors were just so physical. Um, but for Jace to have nine free throws as a 6-1 guard, I’ve just been really impressed obviously with his shotmaking ability. We talked about how the handle needs, you know, some work. Very left-hand dominant right now. Like Jamal Shed for the Raptors kind of sniffed that out early in the game and kind of gave Jay some problems. I think that’s what led to his first half being so quiet. But like in the second half like multiple finishes at the rim like going into the trees finishing through contact had the um the play with like a minute and 10 seconds left where he’s got the ball at the top of the key. Magick are down four. Tries to go left. Kind of gets double teamed. Has to go the other way. There’s another third help defender coming over. He splits that with the right hand. Gets back to the left. The floater from the right elbow to cut the lead to two with about a minute to go. Um I’ve just been really impressed with him. And then Noah Penda, like the box score isn’t super flashy. Nine points, 14 rebounds, two assists, three steals, was a plus 19 in this game. Like was making such an impact. And he’s just a very smart basketball player. Like knows where to be on defense for the most part. Has like pretty good feel offensively. Does miss like some passes sometimes. It feels like maybe he’s trying to do a little bit too much. Um hit a three in this game. He’s now one for six through two games. So, the shooting as we talked about after the draft definitely needs a lot of help, but just a guy that is showing I don’t have to score a lot. I can make impact in different ways and is doing that with the the 14 rebounds. And then Williams was really good off the bench, 14 points, 405 from behind the arc. Wendell Moore Jr. had a really good great game, 22 points off the bench. Uh Scallabisier after having a really good first game was kind of like a non-factor in this one. Um, and then Kyler Kelly, who’s been the starting center for the Magic in both of these games, has had like really really rough showings. Um, just yeah, just not giving you a lot of positives. I I don’t want to um, you know, go too deep and and go in on on Kyler too much, but it’s just like really really really really struggled through the first two games. Like hasn’t really looked like an NBA player, but through two games 0 and2. It’s not really about the the result of these games as it is like seeing what you have in some of these guys, specifically Tristan, Noah, and Jason. I feel like all three of them looked awesome. Yeah. A couple things that have stood out to me and it’s similar to what you said, but the physicality of both Jace Richardson and No Penda has stood out to me. like no Penda you kind of expect it like when we saw him drafted heard about his frame saw some of his uh you know highlights and clips and stuff from France you’re like yeah I mean he’s a big body and and knows how to use it like you mentioned especially you know in that first game seeing him get to the rim and just kind of shrug guys off and you know all that kind of stuff that’s that’s all great but Jace Richardson is is who has surprised me as you don’t always think of smaller guards again 61 being physical but I think Jace Richardson is a physical basketball player on both ends like you mentioned you know and we knew this going into it like his ability to get to the rim at Michigan State through finish through contact all those things we’re seeing a little bit of that in summer league but even on the defensive end like he’s he’s very physical and that you it’s almost one of those things like you got to make up for you know your size in in some way as a basketball player as a defender I mean you got to make up you know as make up your size for your size um and and I guess one of the ways he does that is you know with his physicality which is Great. Another thing that has stood out to me, and it involves uh PEDA and Richardson, but really it’s the whole team. I have been very impressed in stretches with the ball movement of this team. Like a lot of unselfish passes. A lot of it though is is coming is being initiated sometimes by even Jace Richardson. Like we’ve seen Jace Richardson do a fair amount of like driving and kicking or making the extra pass and all that kind of stuff. And then you already talked about Noah Penda. The thing with Penda for me is he’s not he’s he’s athletic, but he’s not like fluid. I don’t know how best to describe it. Like obviously he’s very physical like we talked about. I think he does a really good job of using his body. Sure. But I but I don’t I wouldn’t describe him as a very fluid player. No. Like his movements and stuff aren’t fluid, but you can see that basketball IQ, which again is a phrase we hear all the time, especially from, you know, Jeff Welman, all that kind of stuff. But you can you can see it though, right? like he has made a couple very nice passes defensively, you know, great decision- making so far. And so, yeah, I he’s he’s such an interesting player to me, though. Like, I can’t figure it out. Like, he he’s averaging two and a half steals per game for the first couple of games. Just like been really disruptive like in the right spots. And like for a young player like that to know how to use his body to, you know, get angles and like gain advantages on defenders, like that’s pretty advanced stuff for a guy who isn’t like jump out of the gym, you know, end to end super athletic, right? And that’s that’s the thing. I I find him very interesting because I feel like if his athleticism was just even just a little bit more like and it’s not even again true athleticism. It’s almost like the way you watch him like it’s I’m it’s hard to explain but again if he was a more fluid more explosive athlete I feel like he would have been way higher on draft boards but like and and again the shooting I think could be the other part of that. But outside of that, I think he’s I think he’s a good basketball player, especially getting him at 32, I feel super happy with it, and I can see why the front office has decided to go ahead and and lock him up as part of this this roster going forward. Yeah, when you see a guy like this, like with his frame and his feel, like there’s a reason that he fell to 32. And I I think in watching some of like the, you know, like scouting videos and stuff like that as we did like our pre-draft research, I think I remember something that up until like this season, like he was a little bit heavier. So, he’s like worked on his body and like trimmed down and that’s what kind of allowed him to get into the position to be drafted. But I do still think once he gets like more into like an NBA like strength and training regimen and um you know just over the course of the season, you know, as his continues to work on his body and maybe slims down a little bit more, you know, I think he moves pretty well, but um you know, it it’s just a little, you know, heavier I think than um you know, most like NBA guys that you see like at least at his position. So, but like the conditioning doesn’t seem to be an issue for him. But I’m right there with you. Like if he was a jump out of the gym kind of athlete, he would have been a late, you know, lottery kind of guy cuz teams would just be taking a swing on a guy with athleticism and feel even though the shooting isn’t really there. But hey, there’s a reason that he was there at at 32 and the Magic jumped up to get him. And and to your point about Jace, like I think I tweeted this out during the first game, but he plays bigger than his size at 61. Like guys were trying to post him up in that first game and they we’re having relative success, but it wasn’t like they were doing it with ease. Like he was making them earn it. Um, and if there’s anything that I can say, like right now it seems like the bench unit, the guards are going to be AB and Taius Jones, but if at any point that becomes Jace Richardson, which I think probably has to be your goal with the deal that Taius is on and the cal the salary cap situation being what it is, is Taius might just be a one-year rental and then you’re hoping that in that time Jace can get to the point where you can kind of plug him in next. But um obviously injuries happen, foul trouble happens, all that kind of stuff. We are going to see Jace in that unit at some point. And I don’t know that compared to like guys that we had in those spots last year that he’s necessarily like a ceiling riser, but he’s going to lift your floor a little bit like just with, you know, not really turning the ball over a ton, like one turnover in this game in a in a game where your team had almost 30 turnovers. Yeah. Jay had one playing 25 minutes. Wow. and then in that first game also had one turnover. So all the talk we’ve heard about him being a good decision maker, takes care of the basketball. We’re seeing all of that he’s let’s see was one for three in this game from behind the arc and was two for three. So what is that 346? So 50% from the three in between, you know, these two games here. So, uh, the ability just to knock down open shots, move the ball well, doesn’t make mistakes, and like I do think eventually he’s going to be a maybe not maybe wouldn’t call him a plus defender, but a guy that’s just like not necessarily like a negative on that end with like you talked about the physicality that he plays with, but also like the anticipation and like the hand skills that he has and like the long wingspan. We’ve heard everybody talk about that. Like I I just I think Jace is going to be really solid. And his his ability to like go in amongst the trees and finish through contact, that’s something that stops a lot of smaller guards from, you know, being more dynamic and being able to play with different lineups. And then when you just look at what he could be defensively even with his limited size, I’ I’ve just I’m really excited. I didn’t know that I would feel like this coming away from the first two summer league games, but I mean, we haven’t even barely talked about Tristan. I don’t Magic aren’t going to ask him to do a ton, you know, on the ball, but a secondyear player who’s already been through an NBA season, who looked good, really good at times during an NBA season, you just want him to play and look like he’s too good for summer league. And Tristan Dilva looks like he’s too good for summer league. So, I wouldn’t be, you know, too surprised if we only see him for like maybe another game. He might be done already, but we maybe we’ll see him for another game. But all three of those guys have looked awesome. I think Ethan Thompson, you know, has looked solid, which is good because we’re going to have him on a two-way. Um, the rest of the guys, like it it is a summer league roster. Not to be disrespectful, but that’s what it is. Well, that’s what I was going to say. you know, you say, you know, you’re you’re getting excited, you know, seeing these guys and but at the end of the day, this has been summer league is just brutal to watch. It is it is so tough, especially and again, this sounds snobby, but for those of us who watch I mean really watch NBA basketball for nine months out of the year, like every other night, we’re seeing the best players in the world. It’s a reminder of the gap between and this is the gap between the NBA players and you know summer league GLeague type players and then there’s the gap between them and us and so while I do sit here and say it’s tough to watch still way better than you and I trying to play some basketball. You you haven’t even been at one of our like uh you know court of dreams days yet. That’s that’s the real basketball. That’s the worst basketball you’ll ever see on on that floor. I can I can promise you that. But no, at least we have we have a good time and yeah, you know, we’re two years now without anybody getting hurt, which is always, you know, important. But yeah, with summer league, especially for our team and and you know, the the aspirations that the team has, this is what you want to see. You want to see the guys that you’re heavily invested in, you want to see those guys look good. And I’ve been I’ve been super impressed. like Noah Penda at 32 looks like a legitimate, you know, maybe not right now, but someday like a legitimate rotation guy and for you to get that at 32 and Jace Richardson, you know, looks like a guy who I don’t I don’t know if he’s a starter ever. Maybe he could be. I’m I’m not trying to put a ceiling on him, but like I feel really confident that he could at least be like a really highlevel, you know, like a like a a plus, you know, rotation player like in a on a on a second unit on a good team, you know, I could I could see him helping a team win playoff games and win, you know, playoff series and all that kind of stuff. So, been pretty exciting so far. Um, I want to look up I I keep forgetting to do this to look up the rest of the summer league schedule, Kevin. And I don’t knowuesday. Tuesday is the next one if I’m not mistaken. I don’t have any. They play the Thunder on Tuesday on NBA 6:30. Oh man. And then on Wednesday as well, 7:30 on NBA TV and ESPN Plus and then after that, like starting on Saturday, that would be like the summer league tournament, which by the way, I’ll just let everybody know cuz I know everybody was trying to figure it out. The Magic will not be in the championship game. No. Yeah, they will not and two they’re out. They’ll probably be in the consolation bracket is where they’ll probably end up. Correct. Yeah. You know, it’s it’s a weird feeling and I had to remind myself of this watching the game tonight. Like this doesn’t really matter. Like I’m getting upset in the way I would normally get upset like watching the game and I’m like, “Oh, but yeah, this actually doesn’t matter now. Like we’re good. We’re we’re we’re kind not to say summer league doesn’t really matter, but it doesn’t really matter, right?” You know, so the guys that we need to look good have looked good. Everything else is just kind of blah, you know. Yeah. I’m going to take a moment to interrupt ourselves and tell you about our friends at Jam Hot Chicken. Jam Hot Chicken. They’re bringing Jam’s Culture and Hot Chicken to the heart of Winter Park. We love Jam Hot Chicken. Andrew and their entire team over there because not only do they make really stinking good food, they’re also diehard diehard Orlando Magic fans who love this fan community. And you can find them and their lovely food over at 400 West New England Avenue, sweet 13 in Hannibal Square there in beautiful Winter Park. You can also visit them on their website at jamhotchickenickfl.com where you can check out their menu, order online, and see all things jamhot. And of course, you can follow them on social media, jamhotchick. First off, if you do nothing else from hearing us talk about this right now, just go follow them on social media. Follow them on Instagram. You won’t regret it because you’re going to see all the really tasty stuff. And plus, you’re going to support a local business who loves the magic. So maybe you can’t get to Winter Park. Maybe you can’t order Uber Eats, you know, they’re in the Winter Park area and get Jam Hot Chicken. But the least you can do is follow them on social media. It’s free. And if and when you do go visit Jam Hot Chicken in person and get that yummy, tasty food, just let them know that the Sixman Show sent you. This episode is also brought to you by Lewis Rosario, Binar Halderson, AJ Burst, Ray Pastana, Irish Magic Mike. These are some of our Hall of Fame and elite tier patrons. So, they went over to patreon.com/the6man show and joined either the Hall of Fame or elite tier level. We have other levels as well with additional benefits like access to our Discord community. We have close to 100 Magic fans who are in there talking not only Magic basketball, but really all things like pop culture, video games, movies, TV shows, all that kind of stuff year round. So, if you’re just looking for a good community, talk Magic Basketball, talk about other interests that you have, the Discord is a great way to get connected and to do that. We also give a special shout out to brand new patrons whenever we have them. So, shout out to Steve G who joined at our elite tier level and he went and paid for the entire year upfront, which gives you a pretty significant discount. So, a big thank you to Steve G. If you like what we’re doing here, whether you’ve been listening for a little bit or a lot of bit, um, and you want to help us continue this mission of growing this Orlando Magic fan community, you can head on over to patreon.com/the6manshow to join and pick whatever tier works best for you. We can’t do anything that we do here without our patrons. So, we thank you all so much. Let’s go ahead and get back to the episode. Okay, let’s go ahead and bring in our friend Dan Savage. And now, Magic fans, we are joined by a very special guest, good friend of the program, or Orlando Magic.com, director of digital news, our guy Dan Savage. What’s going on, man? How are you? Thanks for joining the show again. What’s up, boys? This is an exciting time. Exciting time to be chatting with you guys. And I understand, Dan, you are fresh off a trip to Vegas. You got to witness the Magic’s first summer league uh game there. I have a really important Vegas question for you. I don’t know if you heard the big news. Vegas is now bringing starting soon Uno as a table game at some of these casinos. I’m curious, next year when you go back for summer league, do you see yourself sitting at a Uno table and throwing down some some cold hard cash on an Uno game? Well, I’ll hit you with the reverse card. Uh if you guys make it out there, will you be playing Uno? So, that’ll answer your question in part one. in part one. Yes, I I would play some of that and and see my, you know, hands. It’s a little bit of, you know, the uh Vegas vacationesque where you go to that beless casino for those who have seen the movie and start playing all those games like rock paper scissors and war. Absolutely. I I would test my hand in a game like that. Well, I’m going to hit the skip card. Kev, are you going to play Uno if you’re in Vegas? Cuz I you seem like a big Uno guy. I love Uno. I’m just leaving it at that. I love Uno. I don’t don’t tempt me with a good time. That’s all I’ll say. Yeah. Well, Dan, one of the things that we did want to talk to you about cuz I I know we we have you on the pod each year around this time, but never so close like literally in the middle of summer league. So, for fans who obviously, you know, you watch summer league on TV and you you see, you know, the basketball product is what it is, but what’s the experience like of being there? Because as someone who hasn’t been there, obviously you hear all the stories, but it just seems like a basketball fan paradise almost. No, absolutely. The venue itself is, you know, very intimate. You know, that’s why you see, if you follow on social media, so many players taking pictures with fans, front office people, etc. It’s a smaller gym, so you know, more intimate section. There’s not a bad seat in the house. And then for somebody who’s traveling with the team, it’s probably the most relaxed. You’ll see a lot of the front office and, you know, high-end coaches, so you know, your head coach, etc., who not necessarily participating in summer league, so everybody’s a little bit more relaxed. The major moves have been made. Uh, and then when you’re sitting in the hotel, like for example, the hotel the Magic State in this year, there’s 14 other teams staying there. So when you come down to the lobby or the casino floor, you know, area, restaurant, etc., you’re running into somebody from a team. So it’s just like bumping into to everybody. So, you know, from from the hotel we were staying at, if I walk from one end to the other, you know, a walk that would take maybe 10 minutes takes like an hour because you’re bumping into people, you’re catching up. So, it’s not an easy thing. Like, you know, I was talking to my wife. I was like, I’ll be back in the room in like 5 minutes and then I didn’t call her till like 2 hours later and I was like, I just kept running into people I know. But it’s so good, you know, especially this time of year catching up with all the moves teams made, hearing why they made them. So much talk was around the magic, people wanting to know about the Desmond Bane trade, what their thoughts were, you know, etc. So, it it’s really fun to be the buzz of summer league and I feel like the Magic right now up there with like the Rockets and a few other teams are really the talk of of summer league right now for the offseason they had. Here in a little bit, Dan, we’ll ask you a little more specifics about, you know, some of the young guys that the Magic are rolling out there for summer league and your thoughts on that. But first, I I want to go back, you know, a little over a month now, the start of all the Orlando Magic buzz. It’s like it’s it’s been a crazy month, but it kind of all started the first week of June when they rolled out the new rebrand. I’m wearing the new logo. I saw the logo on your jacket a second ago. There it is. Looking great. Remind me first off, Dana, remind our listeners, what year did you join uh the team with the magic? What year was that? Yeah, so I started at the beginning of the 2008 2009 season. So my first year go to the finals. I’ll take some credit for that for doing absolutely nothing besides being there. Um, so yeah, good year to join the magic. And, you know, that was really when they were pushing for the secondary logo to start taking, you know, I I’m going to steal another logo term here, but a primary, you know, phase where they wanted that to be, you know, one of the logos that was seen everywhere. You see it, you start to notice it. So, um, you know, I I came into that a little bit. It was the 20 uh 20th anniversary at that time. time I was like that’s got to be wrong because we’re at 35 but no that’s how long I’ve been here. It was the 20th anniversary of the team. So u yeah so those logos were circulating at the time and it’s really interesting to you know see this iteration of it. Yeah that’s what I was going to ask you. You’ve been here since 0809 and now we have this whole new look. We actually talked with you that day you know at the event but kind of let our listeners know our viewers know what do you think of it? uh how does it resonate with you and how do you think it’s going to look this year with the players actually wearing those uniforms? So, you know, it’s funny you you say that cuz there’s just so much work that goes into it that I, you know, throughout the staff uh people being in focus groups as you guys know, uh people doing hard work led by Shelley Wilks, the Devos family, you know, Alex, Charlie, etc. You go down the list. uh there’s just a ton of people involved in these meetings coming up with the logo guy, third party companies, etc. So, there’s so much work that goes into what the final uh product is. But what I liked about it is look, me personally, I love the iconic original, you know, look of the Magic. I grew up in that era. Uh so, you know, it resonates with me. The fans always seem to love it. I mean, you look at any comments from, you know, past era mentioning that anytime the Magic would go back to throwbacks, fans would eat those jerseys up, etc. in droves. So, the fact that all that came to, you know, a culmination along with modernizing it in a way, I think really hit all the big points home that you could imagine. So, to just watch that unfold over time, you know, I wasn’t too involved in it, but just to see that uh was special. And then what I really think, you know, I knew what they were trying to do with the uh jersey that’s, you know, half black, half blue for the fans, you know, that aren’t familiar with the logo termin or the jersey terminology. Uh when I first saw that on renderings, I was like, eh, you know, I see what they’re going for. And then you see it in person, I was like, holy cow, that went from being perhaps one I was on the fence about to perhaps my favorite. So, I think when fans see it, you guys were in the building to see the court and and all the the stuff of it, I think their minds are going to be blown and really impressed with the final product because that’s that’s how I felt when you saw it all in person. You’re like, “Okay, this really hits different.” So, that was the first week of June and then about a week and a half almost two weeks later, the massive blockbuster trade for Desmond Bane. What was your initial reaction to the move and then what do you think that does for the team heading into next season? You know, it’s funny. We all have different ideas of how you could you know, improve the team and Desmond Bane was one that came up during the season when the Grizzlies hit a rough patch and you know, kind of again when uh you know, Taylor Jenkins was was let go and it was just like would he be a good fit of somebody the Magic could target, you know, etc. And when you look at it, it’s like, yes, uh, perfect fit. So, uh, the fact that they were able to get him and and, you know, nail him down, uh, is is really special cuz I think, you know, what a lot of fans don’t realize, everybody thinks like, oh, this guy’s available, go get this guy, go this guy. There only so many guys that are actually available. And, you know, some guys it takes convincing. a guy like Desmond Bane who’s so well beloved by so many people there in Memphis. And so for Jeff to be able to do that and then do it without giving any of the core young pieces up on this roster, I think was really special. As he alluded to, I think if you’re drawing up a player uh that was a perfect fit for this roster, it would be Desmond. you know, a guy who could be an additional playmaker, a guy who could shoot the three at a high level and still not sacrifice any of your defensive identity. Um, it’s him. So, and then for actual to come to fruition is a testament to Jeff, his staff, and his ability to convince him to to do this trade. And I think it’s one of those trades that really works out well for both sides, too. Because for Memphis, they had made runs at it. It wasn’t working. And you look at, you know, ways you could try to improve their roster. they get some extra picks, cap flexibility, you know, over the long term and and try to do things out that way. So, it’ll be interesting to see how it works out for both sides, but I really like it for the Magic and I think it makes their starting lineup extremely balanced and perhaps one of the best in the East. Dan, across the the Magic fan universe, if you will, there’s a very very clear um sense of hope and of promise and of potential for this coming season and seasons to come, obviously accelerated by the Bane trade. Um add a sprinkle of a rebrand in there and a couple good draft picks and like the the hype is really high. I’m wondering, do you guys, you know, that work for the team, like has that gotten into your bubble? Like do you sense that now? like you sense that same level of anticipation for this season. Uh is that something you guys feel? Yeah. No, there’s so many people that you talk to that have been there for a long time. They’re like, I haven’t been this excited for a season since the Dwight era, you know, and you could really feel that. Uh it hasn’t been much of an off season because there’s something happening literally every week. Uh you know, it’s it’s the rebrand, it’s the trade, it’s free agency, it’s the draft, etc. Summer league. So, you know, really after summer league ends, it’ll be the first kind of pause of news and action. So, it’s been great for us who all create content because seemingly there’s something new to talk about every week. Uh, but yeah, it’s been a buzz. It’s been a lot of excitement and you could really feel that around the office. Moving on from, as you just mentioned, straight from the trade into free agency in the draft, the Magic, you bringing back Mo Vagner, adding Taius Jones, and then being able to add Jace Richardson and Noah Penda through the draft. How important do you think it was to bring Mo back? And then what do you think of the new additions in Taius, Jason, and Noah? Yeah, I think you know Mo bringing him back is one of those moves that, you know, people on the outside, outside the organization or outside the fan base may not value as much because, you know, he’s just not as big of a name, but for those of us here in Orlando, those of us who’ve been around Mo Vagner know how important he is to this team. And you saw that when he went down with the injury. I thought the Magic lost a little bit of that bravado, a little bit of that edge that Mo and Jaylen both brought and you lose both those guys, you kind of feel it. Um that kind of irrational like we could be down 15 and we’re still going to bring it and talk smack, etc. Uh so I really love him back for the locker room. What that means, he’s a guy regardless of, you know, whether it’s game one, game 82 is bringing the same type of vibe throughout the season. uh brings it in practice which you know the course of the practice practice 62 midseason some guys could lose the juice a little bit and never Mo Vagner he’s bringing it he’s talking so I I just love that move and I think it works out for both sides gives Mo a chance to recover from his injury and prove himself and for the team just getting another valuable player who is in the running of six man of the year talk. So, uh, glad to see that fit. And then you get on to to Taius Jones, etc. Uh, what I like about Taius is great at knocking down open shots, low turnover numbers, and, uh, you know, an additional playmaker for this unit. So, when you’re talking about, you know, a checklist for this team for the offseason, those two moves really help hit it. Uh, and now let’s turn our attention to the rookies. As we mentioned, you know, you were in Vegas for at least the first summer league game and we’re recording this after the the second one on Sunday night. What have you seen so far from Jace Richardson, Noah Penda through these first couple games? Anything surprise you or how you feeling about those two guys so far? Yeah. Uh, first of all, both really nice kids. Like, you know, the one thing that Jeff and Anthony Parker and back to John Hammond, these guys don’t miss on is just high character guys that are easy to root for. I mean, you know, how how long has it been since Magic had brought in a guy, you’re like, it’s really hard to root for this guy cuz he’s not a good guy. It just it just doesn’t happen. I think it’s it’s something that as you, you know, go into a summer league setting and you’re around all these other teams and what their environments are like that you realize maybe we take for granted a little bit here in Orlando that all these guys are good, they fit in well, etc. Uh, and I think both these guys are that to a tea. You know, they mentioned them having magic DNA and you could see them exude that. Uh Jace is just, you know, really level, cool, calm cat, very willing to talk. Uh and then Noah, he he’s got an intensity, and I think you could see that carry over to the court. He’s, you know, he’s all about basketball. He he sleeps, breathes it, was very excited for the summer league opportunity, and uh, you know, brings it from start to finish. So, what I like about both of those guys is from the baseline, they have that magic type character. Now, Jace, check the box again in this off seasonason if we want guys who could shoot, you know, propel the offense. And at the same time with him, although he’s on the smaller side, I think you’ve seen in summer league, he’s not necessarily sacrificing on defense as well. He’s very pesky. I think he can develop into the type of defender that you’re not feeling like, oh, this guy’s a liability on that end of the floor. It’s hard to play him in a playoff series. I think he can really develop into that, you know, product of playing at Michigan State under Tom Mizo. And then Penda, I mean, he’s a just jack of all trades. And I think we’re seeing that early where he’s going to stuff the stat sheet. Double digit rebounds, you know, high number of deflections per game, generating offense through his defense. Uh he he just seems like the type kind of guy that in the second round is an absolute steal. And right now it’s projecting that way. So good job on on Jeff and his crew really digging deep in and finding something there. At the beginning of the off season kind of by way of, you know, the Jason Tatum and and Tyresese Hallebert injuries that it’s felt like the East has become, you know, wide open and the Desmond Bane trade kind of happened during that last, you know, part of the finals there. But even apart from that, like if all parts are healthy, the moves that the Magic have made, at least from like a fan perspective, it feels like even with a healthy healthy Jason Tatum and Tyresese Hallebertton, you know, the Celtics and the Pacers at full strength, the Magic could still be in position to compete in the East. But with it, it is, you know, wide open, at least it seems that way. What’s your opinion? Like your feeling? Did the Magic have a real chance to compete and come out of the East and, you know, maybe make a finals run this year? No, I I think the East is wide open and there’s no reason why the Magic can’t be in contention to advance further in the playoffs and make a run. Uh, you look at what’s out there, there’s other teams that have a little bit more experience. Cleveland, you know, is probably going to be in that conversation. New York is going to be in that conversation. And you know, after that, I think, you know, right up with them, uh, the Magic match up. Uh, you know, I think probably there’s scenarios where some other teams could be in contention, you know, if things break the right way for them. But right now, I I like the Magic chances as much as any team in the East. And it’s just a matter of do they have enough experience? Can they get through a playoff series and then gain momentum? Because as we saw, you know, my first season with the Magic, you know, I think that first series with Philly was a test. It wasn’t easy. You know, people with Jir out were like, well, how far can this team really go? Are they going to get knocked out in the first round and you win a hard-fought series and next thing you know, the ball starts rolling and you’re playing the Celtics and you’re in seven games and you beat Boston in seven in their own building and it’s like, well, why why can’t we hang with Cleveland? And so, it’s that kind of thing. you you just have to get there, gain the experience of winning a series and I think then that momentum can carry you a long way. Now Dan, since you have been with the team since 0809, that means obviously you had some really great years at the beginning and some really tough years in the middle. Okay, so I want to know how does it feel now that we’ve come through some of those I mean really low times we Magic fans know. How does it feel to start to be you know covering a winner again? Obviously, two seasons ago, winning 47 games, you know, great first round series against Cleveland, last year derailed by injuries. We all know the story, but now that incline looks like it’s still continuing. Does that like really excite you now when it when it comes time to go to work? No, definitely. You know, it’s weird because like it affects every aspect of things. Like even summer league, take it like, you know, summer league used to be a place where you’re like the the future of right now is on display. Like what kind of season we’re going to be having is what we kind of see from these guys through summer league practices and through summer league action. And now the team is in a place where like regardless of what happens in summer league, you you don’t really think it has an impact on what happens game one of of this regular season. And so that that is big. And then even the way you just cover the team, you know, when you’re, you know, in in the rougher stretches, you’re so much looking to the future. How does this moment, you know, potentially affect, you know, a season or two down the road? what what the team learns from like a a 10ame winning or you know a 10ame tough stretch or a 10ame road streak uh you know etc can all have an impact on future things. But now you’re really looking at things like how does this player can he get into the rotation? This backend guy can he can he have an impact? You know what what are we seeing out of this grouping? You know do we have to switch these things up to make it work? Those are all things you can analyze that when you’re looking at a team that’s, you know, potentially going to finish with 30 wins doesn’t really matter, but do with a team that’s, you know, in contention for potentially 50 wins. So, you have to look at it through that different lens. And I think that’s really exciting because, you know, that’s what it’s all about. You want to be winning. And I think the great part for the magic with the position they’re in with guys predominantly from 22 to now, you know, uh, uh, Desmond just turned 27. For guys in that kind of range, you have a long window. So, you can both analyze the now and still analyze what how this impacts the future. So everything’s really on the table in terms of how you cover them because uh they have the opportunity to win now, they have the opportunity to win next season and the season after that because that’s the way they’re built. And so that’s what you really like about the construction of this team is even when they took a big swing and added a guy, he’s not a guy who’s only like a two-year rental. He fits right into this core and that gives the opportunity for this group to to really have a long runway. again Dan with you joining the team the 0809 season and obviously you know still a part of the organization now I think it’s so interesting because like that 0809 team had moderate expectations that they would be a good team and you know would be competitive but nobody really expected them to make a finals run and now we have this team who hasn’t really proven much on the floor yet but there are kind of these expectations that you know they’ll win a first round series maybe even a second round series, make the Eastern Conference Finals, maybe even make the finals. Are there any parallels that you see between like that 0809 team and this team given like the perception of the expectations feel, you know, pretty different? Yeah, I I would say, you know, what you felt then is you probably had a little bit more established guys in the 0809. You know, Dwight was already a multi-time all-star. they had knocked on the door a bit, you know, had some of the struggles going up against the Pistons, some hard-fought series there, their series against the Raptors, etc. Uh, I think the big similarity, and David Steele brought this up, and I thought it would make a good beginning of the season, is this any thing, was, you know, when you look back at the the Sha Penny era, they brought in Horus Grant. when you look at, you know, the Dwight era with Hedo Jir, they brought in Rashard Lewis and he was a big propel. And I think with Desmond Bane, uh, it can be the similar type of catalyst. And the one thing that stood out to me about Dez, in addition to him being the perfect encore fit is so much behind the scenes, he’s already trying to reach out to guys and get things organized. he’s reached out to Paula like how can we get together to France uh doing the same type of thing and then you know trying to organize something before the season where some of the guys get together and work out as well. So he he’s really uh seemingly a great fit from a locker room and talking to people in me Memphis too. The one thing about him is like he doesn’t carry himself as like a guy who’s made it already even though he’s got the contract, you know, where where he got rewarded for his duties. He still carries himself with a chip on his shoulder like wanting something to prove like I am an all-star caliber player, etc. So, I think he’s a he’s a great fit because I could see him being a guy who’s still on the ascension of of where he has to go and also being, you know, still a good leader in the locker room as a guy who’s had hard fought playoff series under his belt. So, I see him kind of as like a young vet, not like an aging vet who’s like the old head, but like a young vet who knows what needs to be done, but is also putting in the work himself to elevate his game and get to that level. So, I think that’s just contagious when you put it with guys like Fron P Jaylen who are all just relentless workers who are trying to get better. It can and that not to mention guys like Anthony Black who just lives in the Advent Health Training Center all all off season. So they have a lot of guys who who work hard and I think Dez is just another one of them and he could be that type of catalyst like Rashard Horus Grant were in the past to to help propel the magic to the next level. Now Dan, as we wrap up here, having you on the show, obviously we know that all the listeners, all the viewers, they are just clamoring. They’re like, “We can’t let Dan go until we have the patented Boy Meets World segment.” And so this time I wanted to turn the tables and host my own Boy Meets World. I’m just kidding. I don’t know anything about Boy Meets World. So, I’ll let I’ll let Jonathan and and Dan, you know, take it from here. Jonathan, go ahead. Yeah. As as we, you know, talk about the the wonderful and esteemed show that, you know, Dan’s brother Ben, you know, starred in for for years and years. Um, it’s tradition now that we have a little bit of Boy Meets World trivia at the end. And, um, Dan and I, neither of us remember kind of whose turn it is, who went last. So, I figured I would just I I have I I think this one’s going to be pretty easy for Dan. But I’m jetlagged. Uh, so this is probably like my roughest podcast performance cuz my brain is foggy. Uh, and then I’m not in the middle of a boy meets world watch cycle right now about like the only thing outside of sports I’ve watched is like Love Island and I’m uh getting I’m getting hammered by uh the very similar to Blame Me’s World that I’m I’m delaying the uh I think the finale or something must be airing, but we’re a few episodes behind because I was on the road uh in addition to the finale airing. So I’m I’m you know getting the signal that uh hey we have to catch up on some of this. that. So, Boy Meets World definitely Love Island adjacent, right? Like there you a little bit of a love triangle there in, you know, in in season is that season four, season five? I think it’s season five. I think that we have some guys who are into Love Island. You know, some of that social content sleaked out a little bit with Tus and Tristan. And so, I’ve had some of those conversations with them. So, maybe maybe Kevin and I will get on the Love Island watching train. Then we could have trivia about that separate from you. Yeah, I’ll have to get caught up on that one. Yeah, he’ll have to start it to get caught up on that one. But yeah, for sure. Okay, so in season seven, so you know, the the college, you know, years, there’s an episode of like the the prank wars, which I think we’ve had another prank wars similar, you know, question before, but there’s like an alternate universe, you know, that that happens in this, and Eric comes back just all kind of disheveled. So, my trivia question, it’s kind of a two-parter. One is like the main question, then the other will be I guess for like bonus points. You remember Eric’s character’s name at that point. And what does he Thank you. And then what does he keep around his neck? Is I know he pulls a lollipop out of his beard. That’s it. It’s It’s the lollipop. He’s got it on a necklace. He keeps it behind his beard. And then Yeah. So, there’s Look at that. I told you it was going to be a softball. got up there and knocked it out of the park. And I try to tell everyone if you haven’t watched Boy Meets World, you have to you have to give it a shot. A bike is like riding a bike. There you go. And maybe this will inspire, even though the seventh season is terrible, maybe that’ll inspire your your next play. That’s the risky part. And you make a good point there because it’s one of the seasons that doesn’t make every playback. you know, you go through, you play, you may play seasons one to college years and pause and then circle back and so you don’t always get all the way through. But, um, you know, it was one of the things that was addressed in the many moons ago that you were supposed to join us at the Boy Meets World Live show, but Big Time didn’t show up because you had like ComicCon and other star things to go through. No, no, no, no, no, no. What happened for for the listeners? Uh myself, Dan, and uh Comron who used to work with the Oyola Magic, uh we were supposed to go to the Pod Meets World Live show, and I’m at ’90s con like the day or two before it’s supposed to happen. And I’m thinking it’s like the following week and I meet this Magic fan in line as I’m waiting to meet M meet Mr. Feny. He’s like, “Oh, are you going to that thing?” Like, you know, I think it was like Sunday. I was like, “What do you mean?” That’s like it’s like next Friday. He’s like, “No, I have tickets. It’s definitely Sunday.” And then I look it up and sure as you know what, it sure was. And we already had, you know, the pod scheduled and everything like that. So, didn’t have to big time, but I I definitely had to bail, unfortunately. And I I don’t know that I’ll ever forgive myself for that. But, um, yeah, that was that was not my proudest moment, but Kevin’s not at all surprised to hear that that happened. No, I Hey, hey, hey. No, I you said it. No, it’s it’s it happens. It happens. It happens to the best of us, Jonathan. It’s all good. What? The next the next goound, I’ll have trivia questions that could only be answered by if you attended that. Oh, perfect. That would be real deep dive. That’ll that’ll be great. I don’t know how um like caught up you are on the the pod like Pod Meets World, but my listening of that definitely has slowed as they’ve gotten into the later seasons because it’s not as great. And I know that they’re going to be like, “This show is not anything like the first, you know, four and a half, five seasons.” And I know they’re not going to like it. So, I’ve kind of slowed down on that a little bit. But we have had listeners, Dan, who have gone to watch Boy Meets World just based off of the conversations that we’ve had on this show, and at least like one or two of them believe Boy Meets World, we’ve done our job. That’s right. That is right. My kids hate it. you know, part of my retirement uh you know, letter. It’ll be like, you know, all these things with the magic. And finally, if I got one person to watch Boy Meets World all the way through, then did did our job. We we’ve got the kids, they started to watch Full House, which they love, but the girls, for whatever reason, they hate Boy Meets World. I think it’s because Boy is in the name and like that’s a show for boys or whatever. I’m like, it’s really not. Have we tried Girl Meets World? Well, I they need you have to get through. It’s like a prerequisite to get to to that point, but I don’t know. like maybe they would enjoy that more. I I don’t know. I’ve not heard good things. Okay, maybe we get Well, Dan Savage, we’ll uh we’ll we’ll spare Kevin here the the boy meets world talk, but we always appreciate you joining the show and especially just getting back from summer league yesterday, you know, baby and all that awesome stuff and the wife obviously waiting to watch Love Island. So, appreciate you taking the time, man. And uh yeah, definitely looking forward to this season. No, absolutely, guys. It should be a fun ride and hopefully, you know, the next time we’re talking, we’re talking after a big Magic win streak and then they’re positioning the East and we have multiple guys heading heading to All-Star weekend. Uh that would be a nice time to to recatch up and and celebrate all that’s happened in the early part of the season. I’m trying to manifest that kind of early start to the year after some of the struggles that we had to go through last year. Hopefully, you know, karma, the kind of cyclical nature of things, everything goes smoothly and we have a real real exciting start to the season. Well, we’ve been a little delusional over here. We’re talking about travel plans for next June. So, we will uh definitely manifest as much as we possibly can. But yeah, Dan Savage, the man, always appreciate the time. Thanks so much. Thanks, guys. Always appreciate Dan Savage taking the time. One of my favorite Magic employees. Just overall great dude. Great for the vibes. We didn’t even talk about this, but he volunteers at like a wolf shelter like all the time. Like taking care of massive like direwolf looking creatures and is just awesome human being, great at his job. Um just always appreciate the time and summer league, we talked about how it doesn’t really matter at this point, but like just to get out there to experience it once. I I definitely think we need to do that certainly before we’re like a lottery team again and it’s like, you know, very meaningful. Yeah, feels almost like it’s like summer camp for NBA fanatics or NBA employees or whatever because like he was saying, you know, you can just be walking down your hotel and, you know, out comes a player or, you know, a coach or a writer from, you know, that market or whatever. And so, yeah, someday we’ll have to do that. And maybe we’ll hit up the Uno tables while we’re there. Yeah, definitely a little bit of uh, you know, a little bit of gambling. Nothing crazy. We’re not putting rent money or mortgage money on it or anything like that, but you know, I I have, you know, through uh the the Hard Rock app, you know, made some bets on the Magic for this upcoming season, which kind of a a heart pick, but the value is also great. You know, you look at that, it’s like, well, you know, you put 10 bucks down, you know, you could win 400. You know, how how can you turn down those kind of odds? And nothing would be better than for the Magic to win a title and then be like, oh yeah, I’m also getting 400 bucks from this. You can put it all towards Magic Championship merch. There you go. Yeah, actually, you know, that’s a pretty good point. It’s not a bad idea. That’s exactly what you do. I know it. I know it. Yeah, probably. Yeah. To think about the amount of stuff we would need to buy. People People got a little bit frustrated, I think, with us in the last couple videos for just daydreaming too much, but I don’t know. I think that’s kind of half the fun. Yeah. Everybody close your eyes. No, I’m just kidding. No, we’re not doing that. Yeah, not doing that again. All right, let’s go ahead and put a bow on this one. Once again, really thanks uh to our our friend Dan Savage for joining the show. As always, this has been Jonathan Osborne for Kevin Tucker. You all have been listening to the Sixman Show, and we will catch you guys next time. See you. Thanks for listening to The Sixth Man Show. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and Spotify to get new episodes downloaded directly to your phone. If you enjoyed the show, please take a minute to give us a five-star rating and a review. It helps out the show a lot. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @6manshow. We’ll catch you guys next time. Go Magic. [Applause] Let’s go.

Through two games of Summer League, the Magic are struggling but the young players they’re invested in (Tristan da Silva, Jase Richardson, Noah Penda) are all performing well. Dan Savage from OrlandoMagic.com joins the show talk about the Magic’s offseason so far!

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