The NBA's Summer League is a gathering of the NBA as much as it is a time to see young players take the floor and compete for a Summer League title. It is NBA convention, essentially.
The game broadcasts on ESPN and NBATV are loose, paying some attention to what is happening on the court, but more talking about the teams as they stack up for the season. It is a time to reset what has changed in the league through a busy offseason, recap the previous year and look ahead to what is coming when the teams reconvene in two months to begin training camp.
It is a time full of first impressions.
To say the least, the Orlando Magic have been a hot topic.
While the Summer League team itself was winless entering its final game Friday, the Magic have been a team everyone is talking about after they acquired Desmond Bane. They are openly talked about as a team that can compete in the Eastern Conference.
The Magic are entering a different phase -- as evidenced by the fact so few players made it to Summer League when the team made it a point to gather in Las Vegas for a little bit in previous years. Bane is someone who can elevate the team.
Desmond Bane excited to join the Magic
Desmond Bane's excitement has been hard to conceal too.
He said that when it became possible that the Memphis Grizzlies would trade him, he targeted the Orlando Magic as an ideal landing spot. He saw a lot of things to like in how he might fit in with the Magic.
It indeed felt like a good fit.
"I think it is the physicality," Bane said when he was introduced to the media in June. "They don't back down from anybody. They are extremely versatile. Having two 6-10 guys who can put the ball on the floor, a guy like Jalen Suggs who is tenacious on both ends of the floor, high motor. Wendell [Carter] can stretch the floor and shoot. It's just versatility everywhere. I think that's what you need. You see the teams in the playoffs that are still competing, they have guys on the floor who can do multiple things and play at a hight level and play very hard."
That was a key goal for the Magic this offseason. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman wanted to add more shooting, versatility and IQ to his team without taking too much away from the defense.
He averaged 19.2 points per game and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 39.2 percent of his threes. Bane took over more point guard duties when Ja Morant missed significant time in the 2024 season, and he continued to be a solid secondary playmaker.
It added to the Magic's vision of having multiple ball handlers to create and play off each other. That Bane is also considered a solid defender made him far more attractive than some of the other options Magic fans were considering.
Bane, too, has a reputation for being a bit of a talker and not backing down from anybody. That should fit in with the Magic's group of players.
Magic have to see how it all fits together
The question left is how it will all work out. That is something coach Jamahl Mosley has spoken about. The front office has gone out and made some major moves, now the Orlando Magic have to come together on the floor.
There is palpable excitement about the potential of this group. The Magic's front office have spoken openly about the team's title ambitions. Even players like Jalen Suggs have been eager to get things started.
A lot of that comes from the team's established identity on defense and their two burgeoning stars as much as it comes from the moves the Magic made in the offseason. Orlando sees itself as on a natural progression.
But the move to add Desmond Bane is something that has elevated the team. It has pushed the team into higher conversations in the Eastern Conference.
Bane is merely adding to the talent. He saw all of the possibilities.
"It's different than Memphis," Bane said in June. "We were the young up-and-coming team as well. It's a great place to be. Obvioulsy, Paolo [Banchero], Franz [Wagner], Jalen [Suggs], Wendell [Carter], Tristan [da Silva], Anthony Black, you can keep going all the way down the list. I got a chance to play against them, it was always tough to put the ball in the basket against them. They guard. I think I'll fit right in on what they are trying to do on that end, and hopefully help out a bit on the spacing front on offense."
The move for Bane was widely praised as much for the addition of an elite shooter as it was for adding someone who would not take away from the team's defensive identity. It was a purely additive move.
Bane sees that too. And the anticipation for the upcoming season has only added to his excitement of joining the Magic. He sees himself as the perfect fit everyone else seems to think he can be.