Orlando Magic Training Camp: 5 position battles to watch
Orlando Magic Training Camp Battles
Jalen Suggs’ best position and pairing
One of the more exciting prospects about Jalen Suggs is that it is not really clear where he will fit in best at.
He could be a point guard, leading and managing a team as a threat to score and to kick out. His passing was among the most impressive parts of his run in Summer League and the team ran him essentially as the team’s point guard throughout Summer League.
That worked out really well for Suggs but had some mixed results for other players in the lineup — especially Cole Anthony who struggled a ton without the ball in his hands.
There is going to be a really interesting balance that occurs with the Magic this year. Their point guards all could easily double as shooting guards. Orlando is likely going to run lineups with multiple ball handlers.
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In other words, Suggs is going to have run both point and off-guard throughout the season. There is simply no avoiding it. And he has the capability to do so — he played alongside senior Andrew Nembhardt at Gonzaga, and ultimately supplanted the grad transfer from Florida as the team’s starting point guard.
In all likelihood, Suggs is going to be a key part of the team’s future. So much of this season will be about experimenting and figuring out how to get the most out of Suggs. That includes moving him to different positions and figuring out which of the Magic’s guards pair best with him.
The Magic will probably use some of training camp to test Suggs out in different lineups, having him play alongisde different guards.
They could go with two-guard lineups with Suggs playing alongside Anthony. Or they could run Jalen Suggs at the point and play him next to Garry Harris or Terrence Ross. At some point, Suggs is likely to have time on the court with any number of different combinations.
So ultimately, then, the question is whether Suggs can play point guard or whether he is best suited as a shooting guard. The answer to that question is one that will inform how the Magic build and rebuild.
And it will probably set the table for how the Magic plan to use Jalen Suggs whenever Markelle Fultz is able to return to the floor.