The Orlando Magic completed their Summer League run last week. It was a big success for the team. Here are our takeaways from last week.
NBA Summer League is never a definitive thing. It is a higher level than the college game but not quite as organized as it. And certainly not the same level or intensity as the NBA game.
It is a glorified scrimmage in many ways. The games can be sloppy. And the information gained comes with a lot of grains of salt because that competition level is not at its highest.
It is not a complete picture of who a player will be when it comes to the NBA. Especially since most guys have to take on larger roles than they would otherwise for their Summer League teams.
In essence, Summer League tells teams who cannot play more than who can. The important thing from rookies especially is to see whether a player can hold his own playing against men. Getting them ready for the NBA season comes in the months ahead of training camp. And very few rookies are actually ready for the NBA season when it finally comes.
The good news for the Orlando Magic is they clearly saw their two rookies — and several key roster players — could hold their own. The only guy of interest who could not was Stephen Zimmerman. Unfortunately for him, his lack of strength was evident and the Magic opted to move on before his contract became guaranteed.
Summer League is not the time to make conclusions again. But it did reveal some things about the way the Magic want to run and the way the Magic hope to play next year. It also gave the team a good look at their two rookies.
Even though the Magic finished with a 2-3 record and Jonathan Isaac missed the final two games with a hip injury, they certainly learned a lot from the last week. Overall, it was a good week for the Magic.
Here are our takeaways as Magic basketball goes dormant until training camp.