Orlando Magic White wins Orlando Summer League

The Orlando Magic’s secondary team of D-Leaguers and cast offs surprised everyone winning the Orlando Summer League on an overtime buzzer beater.

Justin Dentmon needed a redemption, in a career that has been about proving doubters wrong at every turn.

With the Orlando Magic up by two points after a Stanley Johnson three, Arinze Onuaku grabbed an offensive rebound to allow the Magic to take some time off the clock. Dentmon dribbled at the top of the key and succumbed to the pressure, turning the ball over to Lorenzo Brown and starting a fast break to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The Magic and the Detroit Pistons were inseparable for much of the game as the Pistons kept coming at them behind Johnson and rookie Henry Ellenson, clearly the two best players on the floor for either team.

Dentmon though needed only a little separation to end things. With time winding down and Dentmon staring down Brown again, he dribbled to his right stepped back, faded off of his right foot and drained a 3-pointer like it was nothing. The shot, as meaningful and meaningless as it was, delivered the Magic an 87-84 win over the Pistons to win the Orlando Summer League championship.

“That game-winning shot just came from confidence,” Dentmon said. “In regulation, I turned the ball over and let my team down. Coach gave me an opportunity to redeem myself. I made the shot. It was a 50/50 chance it was going to miss. I am glad it fell on the other 50 side and I made it.”

It was a shot Dentmon apparently practices with some regularity, as ugly as it looked. As everyone on the team held their breath as it went down, it was easy to realize this group quickly became a dangerous team.

The Magic White team dominated the Summer League throughout, just like the scrappy bunch did last year in reaching the finals and losing in sudden-death overtime.

The fact they were there is still one of the great stories of this week and the opportunity it affords the players on the team.

This was a team without any first or second round picks. A team of castoffs and D-League fodder. It is hard to know where any of these players will end up now that this week and this opportunity is over. Surely some will end up back with the Erie BayHawks, remaining in the Magic system. Some could end up getting a training camp invite.

For one week though, they ran the league and dominated.

Dentmon, who came into the week with questions about his ability to play point guard and make shots, answered many of those in a solid week. He scored 16 points and dished out nine assists Friday and finished the week averaging 13.8 points per game, 4.6 assists per game and shooting a 49.1 percent effective field goal percentage.

Like so many other players, they had the chance to shed some labels and grind their way to some notice.

That is what players like Treveon Graham, Arinze Onuaku and Alex Davis did throughout the week. That is what Jordan Sibert and Landry Nnoko did in the championship game, playing for virtually the first time all week. Everyone seemed to find a way to contribute.

“It’s really pleasing,” coach Bill Peterson said. “It has a lot to do with their spirit and their fight. I told them all week, I was really proud and even guys who were not playing were up off the bench and the bench was engaged. We’re not a group that is together at all. We’re all new.”

That is perhaps what is most amazing about what the team was able to accomplish.

In a short time, a team relatively low on talent compared to some of the other teams and low on experience really came together as a team. They were loud off the bench after made shots. They were together and balanced throughout the week.

Someone different seemed to step up every game and every moment that was needed.

Onuaku had 14 points and 12 rebounds, continuing a strong week on the block for the veteran center. Treveon Graham (11 points, six assists) was solid all week. Kevin Murphy was also good with his shot throughout the week. He led the team with 19 points Friday.

In this championship game, Detroit made several runs at Orlando’s lead and Orlando seemed to have answer even when it seemed like Johnson was trying to take over. The Magic never ran away, once leading by 11 points, but they were never out of control either. Even when the Pistons took a five-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Something was there to calm them down. Still even more incredible with how each player was trying to show off their own skills and hope to get a contract down the road and further their career.

Perhaps coming together as a team and winning was the best way for them to showcase their individual skills.

“We’re all competitors and we all came out here to win,” Onuaku said. “From day one when we started with two-a-days, we knew the goal was to get a championship and we were able to do that.

“All of the guys on the team are going to be 13th, 14th, 15th guy. The goal is to compete every night and show that on a Wednesday night in Detroit when everyone is lackadaisical, you can bring the energy and push your team to a win.”

Each player showed a little bit of that. Peterson said he was receiving feedback from scouts and potential for those players on his roster. They certainly turned some heads.

The individuals accomplished their goal by playing as a team. Where remains a question as Summer League wraps up.

This unexpected championship ended on an unexpected shot for sure though.

Next: Orlando Magic complete transformation this summer

“Whenever you play, you want to be competitive so a championship shows how much of a winning team you are,” Graham said. “Definitely just us coming together. None of us have ever played together before. Winning a championship shows how we are all good teammates.”