3 Important lessons learned during the Orlando Magic’s 2024 preseason 

2. Jett Howard looks ready to boost the Magic’s offense

Offense is still the Magic’s biggest weakness. They can guard pretty much anyone in the league but still struggle to score and create good open looks. Rather than addressing this issue during the offseason and signing an offensive-minded guard, the Magic decided to rely on internal improvements from the young players on the roster. 

Jett Howard showed during preseason that he could really help the Magic’s offense. He was confident and aggressive looking for his shot, and proved to be a rather efficient scorer. Over three preseason games, Howard scored 35 points, making 7 of his 17 3-point attempts and 11 of his 22 field goal attempts. 

One concern is that he did not grab a single rebound over three games. Howard is a scorer more than anything else, but that might be just what the Magic need. Someone needs to help Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner carry the offense by being able to create his own shots and just going off for a few minutes. 

Considering the players on this roster, Howard may be the best solution to that problem. This is not to say that he should necessarily play huge minutes every game, but that he should get his minutes whenever the Magic struggle to get things going offensively.