5 things we learned about the Orlando Magic from Summer League

The Orlando Magic’s offseason now enters the quiet part — even if some fans are still pining for a major trade involving Donovan Mitchell.

The team went through the rush of making its draft pick, taking Paolo Banchero with the top pick in the 2022 Draft; the run through free agency, returning both of the team’s major free agents in Mo Bamba and Gary Harris; and the fun of Summer League, going 2-3 in Las Vegas this past week.

Now everyone waits for players to start making their way back permanently to Orlando in early September — although many of the Magic’s players remain in Orlando for individual and daily offseason workouts — and then finally training camp in late September.

The mad dash of the offseason is ending and everyone can finally (maybe) take a breath.

The Orlando Magic’s Summer League run is over as the team sits back and evaluates what they learned from their week in Las Vegas as they get set for training camp.

There will be a lot to think about and plan as the Magic prepare for their second training camp with Jamahl Mosley.

Mosley will be a year wiser and no longer a rookie head coach. He will have a team that experienced the many lows of a rebuilding season but the optimism that comes from their work and future.

And now comes the integration of a top pick into the mix. Perhaps now the Magic have a clearer idea of exactly who they want to be.

Summer League helps fans fall in love with players at the end of the roster. But no one should look at it for more than what it is. It is Summer League and really just a chance to get some exposure for players on the roster and test them out in different ways.

It is also a place for the team to experiment a bit with what it hopes to run and figure out what the limits of the team’s basic strategy can be. Orlando was certainly experimenting a bit with how it will play even without the best personnel.

Any time someone with the words “Magic” across their chest goes out on the floor in any official capacity, it reveals something about the way this young team will operate. They are, after all, still establishing their identity. And they put a lot of what they will try to do this season on display.

The Magic may have just gone 2-3 in Summer League, with both wins coming in the two games Banchero played, but they hinted at a lot of things the team will try to do when the season begins. There is always something to learn.

And the Magic learned a lot about their future team and their 2023 season on the courts in Las Vegas.

5 things we learned from Orlando Magic’s Summer League

Paolo Banchero is THAT dude

The talk from Summer League — even now a week after the team shut him down — is all about Paolo Banchero.

He was impressive on the court, averaging 20.0 points per game and 6.0 assists per game. Even with inefficient shooting numbers, he was clearly the best player on the floor for the Orlando Magic and for each team he faced.

Just the experience of watching Banchero in this setting felt like a refreshing turn for the team. They have not had a pure scorer and creator like Banchero in a long time.

And the rest of the NBA world took notice too.

The world was buzzing — and is still buzzing — about what Banchero could bring to the table. Even Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was singing his praises (and offering some warning for the Magic as they make their next moves).

That is a lot of buzz and pressure on a rookie right off the bat.

But Banchero has always welcomed that. It is where he has thrived.

And that is where he provided his best highlight of the summer when he blocked Nemias Queta’s potentially game-winning dunk in double overtime and then recovered on the other end to find Emmanuel Terry for the game-winning layup in the Orlando Magic’s win over the Sacramento Kings.

Banchero dazzled with his passing as much as his scoring. And he found plenty of defensive reserves to quiet some of the doubts that existed about his defense from the pre-draft process.

There is still a lot for Banchero to work on. He struggled with his efficiency as he looked to experiment and test out what he could do at the NBA level — a reason why a third game might have been beneficial for him. He also struggled with the doubles teams sent his way once they realized they had no way to stop him.

Still, life will be a lot different for Paolo Banchero when he has Markelle Fultz to set him up or can dish passes to Wendell Carter on the interior or to Franz Wagner on the perimeter.

The Magic experimented with him all over the floor — as the center and as the main ball-handler — and saw that he could handle it all.

It is OK to be excited.

5 things we learned from Orlando Magic’s Summer League

Orlando Magic’s culture is ingrained

The Orlando Magic did not win a lot of games last year, but they certainly were highly ranked around the league in vibes.

It was a 22-win season, but it was still a fun season. And everyone feels like the Magic are in a good place as they start this rebuild.

To be sure, the team will start to be judged on wins entering this season and they need to make some tangible progress.

But Summer League showed one thing: Last year’s good vibes were not the team coping or putting on airs. It is something deeply ingrained with this team from top to bottom.

Jamahl Mosley helped initiate a spirited and energetic vibe where everyone is excited to work and improve. More importantly, he has created an atmosphere where everyone is excited and cheering for each other.

That was evident from the fact the majority of the team’s main roster made it to Las Vegas for the team’s first two games. Sure, some of that was the curiosity of seeing top pick Paolo Banchero, but the way they were engaged with the players on the court and hung on every play showed how bought in everyone is to every part of the process.

That buy-in was clear even for the players on the Magic’s Summer League roster who are clearly fighting to make the roster. The energy players like Zavier Simpson and Tommy Kuhse showed throughout Summer League buoyed the team and kept everyone playing at a high, energetic level.

It was hard not to love the way the team was playing and the effort and energy they put in.

There were flaws in how the team was constructed considering the style the Magic wanted to play, a clear preview of how the team is hoping to play in the fall. But they were all committed to doing what the coaching staff asked them and they largely played well enough to make everyone a believer.

Orlando has built itself as a tough-minded, hard-working team. They were that last year. They were that in Summer League. And there is no reason to believe that will not carry over when the season tips off.

5 things we learned from Orlando Magic’s Summer League

Flipping the switch on defense

The Orlando Magic were not just there for some good vibes and to throw Paolo Banchero out there. The team was working and focusing on a lot of things and trying to test out strategies and principles they will cement in training camp.

The biggest thing to notice was the Magic’s embrace of switching defense. They were not afraid to switch 1 through 5 on the floor and they were clearly working on the communication and understanding where players need to be positioned to help after these switches were made.

What was also clear is this Magic team did not have the personnel to play this style.

Orlando gave up an average defensive rating of 105.4 points per 100 possessions, giving up fewer than a point per possession in the first two games with Banchero and the main roster players on the court and giving up more than 120 points per 100 possessions in each of the final two games.

There was little change from playing with Paolo Banchero and R.J. Hampton in the lineup to using a two-guard lineup that featured point guards Zavier Simpson and Devin Cannady. The size difference between the two teams should not be any clearer. And we know how much this Magic team values its size.

Still, Orlando was playing a style more than playing a score. The team was not focused on whether they had the personnel in Summer League to play this style, they wanted to expose their roster players to how they will play and understand some of its limitations heading into the season.

To be sure, the Magic’s main roster does have the ability to switch defensively and switch often.

Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jonathan Isaac are all 6-foot-9 or taller wings who can guard on the perimeter and in the paint. Markelle Fultz and Jalen Suggs are bigger guards who can hold their own on the block until back-line help arrives. Jonathan Isaac and Mo Bamba can provide stronger rim protection and paint deterrence if the guards get beat at the point of attack — certainly better than Admiral Schofield did when he was in that position.

The best defense in the league last year from the Boston Celtics used switching effectively to stymie defenses in both the regular season and the playoffs. The Miami Heat too became a defensive juggernaut and reached the Eastern Conference Finals because they could switch 1 through 5 more or less.

This is the style the Magic have been building toward defensively. They have the players and pieces to try to make it work.

And if Summer League was any indication, the Magic are going to unleash their length and versatility to try to improve on a defense that finished 19th overall in the league last year and seventh after the All-Star Break (despite late-season shenanigans).

5 things we learned from Orlando Magic’s Summer League

Offensive modernization continues

The other thing that became abundantly clear in the Orlando Magic’s Summer League is that their offense is going to work a bit differently. Or at least the Magic are ready to experiment and run their offense using more modern trends.

With Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner starting at forward and Wendell Carter as the likely center, the team not only has the ability to switch everything defensively comfortably, but they should be able to play a true 5-out offense.

That was something that was on display throughout the course of Summer League from the beginning stages where Banchero logged minutes as the nominal center on the perimeter or hunting switches in pick and rolls to take down to the block or the encouragement for non-shooting bigs like Emmanuel Terry and Aleem Ford.

Again, Orlando was playing to their style for the regular season and not necessarily to their personnel.

When Banchero was playing, this 5-out system worked really well. They were able to create and find space for Banchero to drive to the basket and prevent help from getting to him before he could pinpoint a pass.

Orlando’s offense was fairly effective and the team shot 35.5-percent from three in the team’s two games with Banchero on the floor.

Again, life will be a lot different with more guys who can attack the paint like Markelle Fultz and Jalen Suggs. That along with the threat that Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero give should open up more space to attack the paint if the team is able to space the floor properly and make the right passes and reads.

All of the Magic’s executives have spoken about the team’s high basketball IQ. That will get tested if they do go to a 5-out system. It will test players’ ability to make the right reads on passes, see where doubles and help are coming from and then knock down shots when they are open.

That is still likely the Magic’s biggest weakness as an offensive team — they were 28th in field goal percentage and 28th in 3-point field goal percentage. But it is not one the team is going to hide from.

Orlando finished last season 11th in the league in 3-point field goal attempts per game. In Summer League, the Magic averaged 35.0 3-point attempts per game, the second-most in Las Vegas.

A lot of that was because of the team’s over-reliance on 3-point shooting after Banchero exited. Orlando just could not get consistent penetration without him. But it is a clue to what the team will try to do as they continue to shape this offense.

5 things we learned from Orlando Magic’s Summer League

Orlando Magic will have a battle for the last roster spots

When the Orlando Magic’s Summer League roster came out, it was admittedly not an impressive list. But the Magic know what they are doing. They found some quirky players who quickly endeared themselves to Magic fans by embracing the team’s overall culture and energy.

Still, they were there for a job interview and audition. They had to showcase how they fit into the team concept and whether they could play at an NBA level.

The Magic were probably in a poor position to make offers for Summer League players because they had virtually no roster spots to offer. The team hit 16 players after signing second-round pick Caleb Houstan to a reported four-year deal.

Houstan had a solid showing early in Summer League and the Magic made a long-term commitment to him, even if he still ends up spending some time with the Lakeland Magic this season.

That only increases the pressure on players to keep their roster spots and the pressure for players to make their mark for the last spots remaining — whether that is for a spot on the main roster or the last open two-way contract.

R.J. Hampton seemed to go back into flux because of his poor play throughout Summer League. He did not show the poise and composure you would expect from a rising third-year player as he struggled working on the ball. Hampton should not be in any danger to miss the roster but he did not secure a clear rotation spot like he probably wanted.

Devin Cannady struggled with his outside shot throughout Summer League too.

On a non-guaranteed contract, Cannady is probably most in danger to get demoted out of the main roster. He would be a good fit as a two-way contract having shown what he can do already at the NBA level and as a proven high-level G-League player.

But nothing is guaranteed. Cannady will have a lot to prove in training camp to have that breakthrough.

On the other end players like Tommy Kuhse and Justin James have put themselves in play to earn the Magic’s second two-way contract. Orlando seems locked into keeping Admiral Schofield in the other slot. But that might also be part of what gets sorted out in camp.

The point then is that camp is going to be competitive. Orlando wants to build a competitive environment where everyone is pushing each other. There are plenty of other position battles and pressure points to watch when the Magic reconvene in the fall.