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5 matchups to put the Orlando Magic on national TV

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Jalen Suggs had a strong showing in his Summer League debut and he proved to be everything the Orlando Magic could want. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Jalen Suggs had a strong showing in his Summer League debut and he proved to be everything the Orlando Magic could want. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Nikola Vucevic, Chicago Bulls
Nikola Vucevic is still trying to fit in with the Chicago Bulls. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports /

The NBA is starting to shut down for a little while (or relatively shut down).

Summer League is over and the league is going to find some quiet for the next month before training camps begin in late September. That is usually when things get quiet. It is the NBA though, anything can still happen.

There is still one more piece of business to take care of. And the NBA is doing a slow release of that business.

The league announced its opening week and Christmas Day national television schedule as the league’s 2022 and 75th anniversary season gets set to begin. The rest of the schedule will get released Friday at 3 p.m.

The NBA schedule is set to come out Friday. While the Orlando Magic will not have many games on national TV, if any at all, we have a few suggestions for games the national broadcasters could grab.

Pretty soon, then, Orlando will have its road map for the 2022 season laid out. And that will make the 2022 season feel all the more real, especially with the roster and excitement for the new pieces on it almost completely set.

The schedule itself is never particularly interesting.

We know there will be 82 games — 30 against Western Conference opponents, 16 against Southeast Division opponents and another 36 against the rest of the Eastern Conference. The bigger mystery and the trick of it all will be in where the road trips come in and how difficult the start and finish might be.

The one thing that no one should expect for the Magic is any national TV appearances. Having the fifth pick in the draft, even selecting someone as high profile as Jalen Suggs, is not going to be enough to get the team a national TV game. Neither is the fact the Magic are predicted to have one of the worst records in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando is not going to be on national TV at all when the schedule comes out. The team will probably get a few token NBATV appearances. The Magic will toil in anonymity and hopefully slowly gain everyone’s respect.

Thankfully, Orlando will have all of its games on Bally Sports Florida.

That is just how this team is built. The Magic are super young and that is going to lead to inconsistency. On top of this, they will be slowly integrating Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz back from major injuries.

Everyone is assuming the Magic are going to be more focused on player development and there will be a little less focus on winning as a primary goal (although still important).

That does not make for good matchups on national TV. The Magic are not exactly a team to feature at the moment.

Still, there will be a few games that have the storyline push that should get at least some cursory look for national TV — or at least on NBATV.

The only thing we seemingly can count on is the Orlando Magic will open the season against the Miami Heat — they have opened at the Amway Center against Miami in four of the past five seasons. Magic fans would relish the meeting with Kyle Lowry.

Before the schedule comes out, here are our five best national TV candidates.