5 Orlando Magic players to watch at NBA Summer League

Orlando Magic players to watch at Summer League

Lakeland Magic players

The Orlando Magic have five players on their Summer League roster who played for the G-League champion Lakeland Magic last year. That is a good sign that the Magic are looking to use their G-League team to help create opportunities for their players both with the main roster and elsewhere in the league.

There are few players from the starting lineup of that team — Mamadi Diakite was on loan to the Lakeland Magic from the Milwaukee Bucks, Devin Cannady is still recovering from his injury (and making significant progress). These are not the best of that team that won the title last year.

One name should get some special attention — starting center Jon Teske.

Teske averaged 6.7 points per game in 19.8 minutes per game during the regular season. He jumped up to 10.7 points per game in the three-game postseason. In college, Teske averaged 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a senior at Michigan in 2020.

Teske is not much of a rebounder and his shot is still developing. At this point, he is a big body at 7-foot-1. But the Magic’s biggest need right now is finding a third center to back up their other two young bigs in Wendell Carter and Mohamed Bamba.

The other Lakeland players worth looking at are Jeff Dowtin, D.J. Hogg, Justin Jackson and Tahjere McCall.

McCall was one of the best defenders in the G-League and will certainly get a long look through Summer League. He averaged 11.9 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game as a 6-foot-4 guard.

The other interesting name in that group is Justin Jackson.

Jackson was the Magic’s second-round pick in the 2018 draft. But he has dealt with various shoulder injuries and has not yet even played on the Summer League team. He had a short stint with Lakeland in the 2020 season but was eventually cut from the team.

Orlando seems to be tying off a loose end to see if Jackson can play and whether he is worth bringing closer to the team — possibly even back to Lakeland.

But the Magic will have plenty to look at from these guys during their Summer League. And there are plenty of intriguing stories to follow as the Magic get set to play in Las Vegas.