Orlando Magic hope their foundation began in Summer League

Summer League is always extremely difficult to judge.

On one hand, there are games. Those are public data points that say something. At the end of the day, performance in games matters.

But Summer League operates in its own bubble. The results matter only for the players’ competitive nature.

On the other hand, teams and players might have other goals for their time in Vegas. They want to focus on specific aspects of their games or just get the game reps. What happens in practices matters as much as games as teams sort through their young players especially.

For the Orlando Magic with so much new — new coaching staff, new potential star draft pick, a new way of doing things — those practices would matter. They, as coach Jamahl Mosley said at the beginning of Summer League, would set the foundations for the season ahead.

"“I think it’s about laying the foundation of what things we’re expecting with in practice,” Mosley said after Monday’s 79-78 loss to the Detroit Pistons. “The daily habits, the fundamentals of where we’re trying to go. The terminology we’re using defensively and offensively. How we want to play with pace, space and pass. Defensively, we want to be tough, talking and tied together. I think laying the foundation there has been huge. Not just from the players’ side but from the coaches’ side of us coming together and growing together as we move this thing forward.”"

In this way, Summer League was a hint and a sprinkling of how the team would play. It was an experiment to figure out what worked and what messages would set in with this young team. It was a test of how quickly everyone could get on the same page — both the players and the coaches.

The Orlando Magic completed their Summer League with some expected hiccups and learning to go. But they hope their foundation for training camp was set as they move forward.

Mosley was not only working as a first-time head coach but also working with a new staff. They were getting to know each other and how they will work at practices. This was all a dry run for what the regular season might look like.

Those habits and processes they tried to establish will be something they hope to carry over into the regular season. But training camp will be starting from square one nonetheless.

In Summer League, there were certainly hiccups along the way.

Orlando’s defense, the focus of most of the team’s practices and clearly the identity Mosley wants his team to carve, was inconsistent throughout the five games. The team was not always completely tied together.

Offensively, there was definitely a share of issues too. The Magic’s focus on defense left an offense that was still trying to get organized. Jalen Suggs was superb as a rookie and set the tone for the team. But the offense and scoring came in spurts.

Orlando Magic

But the hope was they would improve as the week went on. The defense started to tie together more and the offense found its groove.

And that appeared to be the case, even as the Magic’s regular rotation players started to phase out of the lineup.

"“It’s definitely a process, especially defensively,” said Ignas Brazdeikis, who signed a two-way contract with the team. “But I feel like the connection that we have already and the chemistry that we have, we just enjoy playing with each other. We have a lot of hard-working players, a lot of guys who bring it every single day that want to be dogs on defense. That’s what we’re going to have to bring every single night. We’re going to have to continue to work on that every single day and grow every single day.”"

If that is the message that has set in and the attitude that has set in with these players, then the Magic definitely gained something from Summer League. They laid that important foundation for the season — both the Xs and Os and terminology they will need to grasp before training camp and the chemistry and camaraderie necessary to get through a season.

That latter part was more than evident throughout Summer League. Whether it was Cole Anthony or R.J. Hampton pulling a rookie aside to talk through the situation they had just seen, players cheering for each other on the bench or the TikToks that Anthony was posting. There definitely seemed to be a connection between all the players.

Add then that Mohamed Babma, Gary Harris, Wendell Carter, Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz all rolled through Las Vegas at some point while the Magic were there. Everyone wanted to get at least a glimpse of their new coach and the new way the Magic would operate.

Mosley said this was one of the most important things for this group. They were trying to learn and grow together. That will be vital for such a young team trying to carve its path in the league.

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Constantly players spoke about the energy Mosley brought to the team. He truly is a player development coach. Someone who would get in the drills with players at times.

He practices the energy he preaches. The practices are high energy and the hope is that translates to the game. There even seemed to be evidence of that.

"“Everything that he had us doing here, his concepts and all that, I can definitely see it working in the league,” Hassani Gravett said after Monday’s game. “I think he will be a great coach. I would love to play for him myself. He’s just very spot on with each and every guy. There’s no favoritism toward this guy or that guy. He’s joking with you and laughing with you. But when it comes down to business, he’s taking care of what needs to be done.”"

If this is at the heart of what the Magic are trying to do, then that foundation seems to have taken hold. That seems to be the biggest goal for the Magic to accomplish in Summer League.

Mosley set it out at the beginning. The coaching staff was beginning to test out its theories and philosophies — the buzz words for the defense and offense were repeated ad nauseum in press availabilities — and how to implement them.

These Summer League games and the whole experience will be processed, analyzed and refined for training camp in just six short weeks.

The goal was to establish a foundation. Mosley said he was encouraged most by how quickly players picked things up and improved as the week went on.

In that way, the Summer League was a smashing success. The team took any disappointment in stride and learned from mistakes. They did get better.

The Magic hope that they depart Vegas, then, with this foundation set. They hope they have a platform to begin building.