Magic Gaming announces protected players as NBA 2K League prepares for second season

Magic Gaming named the two players they will protect in the upcoming expansion draft as the NBA 2K League is already planning its second season.

The NBA universe was excited this past weekend for the release of NBA 2K19. Whether you got the Legends Edition or the regular edition, it is the first symbol that the upcoming NBA season is becoming real. Things are finally coming into focus for the league and the upcoming year.

For Magic Gaming and the NBA 2K League, there is still a long way to go before the season starts again.

There is still a yet to be determined qualification process for new players to enter the pool. Assumedly, the league will hold another tryout and combine process in early 2019 like it did this past year. But the twist is there will be far fewer spots.

Even with four expansion teams entering the fray, the league set up its rules for retaining players and moving players around for next season.

The first step was each of the 17 teams got to retain up to two players off their roster and protect them from the expansion draft. After that, teams will have the ability to retain up to two more players from their roster of six, giving up draft picks if they do so. After that, the teams will hold another draft to fill out their remaining rosters.

Magic Gaming completed the first step in this process, announcing who they would protect. Unsurprisingly, Magic Gaming opted to protect UC Manny and King Cam Royalty.

https://twitter.com/MagicGaming/status/1038497119345287169

It certainly was difficult for Magic Gaming to pick just two players to protect. Every player was important to their surprise success last season.

The team needed a bit of time to find its way. But once they did, their team-first approach took the league by storm. Magic Gaming, projected by many gaming pundits to finish last in the league, was in the pole position for the final playoff spot entering the final week.

A combination of bad results earlier in the day and a loss to Cavs Legion GC in their first game that last day eliminated the team from the Playoffs.

If Knicks Gaming had not won The Ticket midseason tournament with its automatic bid into the 2K League Playoffs, Magic Gaming would have been in. Instead, Knicks Gaming rode that tournament momentum to win the first 2K League championship.

Magic Gaming certainly is hoping to recreate the magic of their first season.

And keeping these two players is at least the first step in that direction.

UC Manny led the team in scoring with 15.4 points per game and shot 53.7 percent from beyond the arc as a power forward for the team. The second round pick from the inaugural draft was a solid player throughout the season, providing consistent scoring and production throughout the year.

If there is a surprise, it is that Magic Gaming opted to retain KingCamRoyalty. Of course, if anyone watched the team, it is not a huge surprise.

Instead, it is a surprise because KingCamRoyalty was the team’s sixth-round (and final) pick of the inaugural draft. He sat out the first set of games. But once he entered the lineup, he made an immediate impact for the team.

KingCamRoyalty averaged 13.0 points per game and was one of the best rebounders in the league with 8.1 rebounds per game. His energy and play spurred Magic Gaming to come close to the Playoffs.

Adding both of these players back as the heartbeat of the team should help the team greatly.

The next step is to see whether any of their remaining players — including first-round pick Kontrul — get selected in the expansion draft by one of the four new teams. And then they will have a decision themselves on whether to retain any of their remaining players. Then comes the draft where Magic Gaming will select ninth in the first round to fill out the rest of their roster.

All that will come in the near future. The date for the draft is not yet set.

Magic Gaming will let the thoughts of their near Playoff miss fester until then.