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Orlando Magic: Ranking every offseason acquisition

By Philip Rossman-Reich

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Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic
Jalen Suggs had an impressive debut showing for the Orlando Magic in their Summer League opener. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Orlando Magic ranking every offseason acquisition:

1. Drafting Jalen Suggs

There are very few words to describe how excited the Orlando Magic fan base was and is for Jalen Suggs and his arrival.

He announced himself on several occasions at Gonzaga. None more so than his buzzer-beating half-court shot in overtime to defeat UCLA in the Final Four. That was an all-time moment for any player.

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    • He backed it up completely in Summer League with some dazzling offensive displays.

    Honestly, the play that probably clinched his spot as one of the best players in this long-awaited draft class was the play that came before the half-court shot. Suggs is a much better defender than anyone anticipated. He blocked a shot to set up the big shot. Just like how he blocked that key shot in his Summer League debut.

    Suggs dazzled not for his scoring ability, but for everything else he did. So many great passes were not rewarded with assists during Summer League. Everything he seemed to do turned to gold for the Magic.

    Scouts believe Suggs is the perfect player for the Magic to establish their culture with. He is about all the right things. There is nothing to suggest otherwise at the moment.

    The numbers seem to support his potential as a star for the team too.

    He averaged 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game for Gonzaga last year. That came in only 28.9 minutes per game with all the blowouts the Bulldogs had in their undefeated season.

    At Summer League, Suggs averaged 15.3 points per game, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He posted a 47.6-percent effective field goal percentage. And remember all this came in just three games with the third game limited to 12 minutes because of his thumb injury.

    Suggs delivered a whole lot more than those statistics suggest too. The team was over the moon on draft night and they are still somersaulting today.

    Every rebuild needs a star player to build around. The Magic sure hope they found one in Suggs. He is the most consequential draft acquisition the team has made since probably Dwight Howard.

    He is the most consequential offseason acquisition the team has likely made since Rashard Lewis. That is the kind of transformative power he has.

    Next. Mohamed Bamba will have to solve the motor problem. dark

    And no matter how much anyone would question the other moves the Magic made this offseason, Suggs’ addition makes this a successful offseason for the team.