It has been nearly nine months since the last time Jalen Suggs played for the Orlando Magic.
His last game was itself a return, after he had missed two weeks with a back injury. Suggs made an immediate impact for the Magic, helping them defeat the Detroit Pistons in what was a critical game at the time. It came at a cost as Suggs left as the Magic were pulling away midway through the fourth quarter after bumping knees with a defender.
Suggs was working to get himself back and clearing the last hurdle in his return when he felt discomfort in his knee and the team discovered cartilage damage in his trochlea, the groove that the knee cap rests in.
Suggs underwent a mosaicplasty surgery, hoping to head off any long-term damage. But that also meant a longer recovery.
The Orlando Magic publicly said they hoped he would be back for the opening night game Wednesday against the Miami Heat. But as his progress slowed, it became seemingly less of a chance that he would hit those goals.
Things have ramped up quickly.
Suggs participated in 5-on-5 drills with contact on Tuesday. His availability will be determined based on how he responds to treatment before Wednesday's game.
But these are all good signs that Suggs' return is imminent. He has cleared that final hurdle.
"He had a great day," coach Jamahl Mosley said after practice Tuesday. "Like I have continued to tell you all is we will go off how he responds to the treatment and what he has done with that group. Today was a good day and yesterday was a good day."
As Suggs likes to say, he is trying to stack good days as he returns from this long-term injury --certainly longer than he wanted it to be.
There is almost certainly a plan to manage his minutes at least early on. Mosley has often preferred to bring players under a minute restriction off the bench to better control their minutes. There is indeed something of a wrench thrown in with Suggs playing with the starting group for the first time.
The Magic will keep an eye on him and how he feels. The team is trying to preserve him for the long term too. They know the games in March and April will contain more meaning than the games in October and November, as vital as they all are.
But it is also clear Suggs will be back sooner than later. They know how vital Suggs is to this team as the "head of the snake" on defense, as Mosley likes to call him. Suggs is the emotional center of the team.
Having him back is uplifting for a team already eager to start the season.
"First off, I'm super happy for him that his rehab is going well," Franz Wagner said after practice Tuesday. "We definitely need Jalen. His energy obviously on defense making big plays. But he's one of the most important players on the team. We'll be really happy for him when he gets back out there."
Last year, Jalen Suggs averaged a career-high 16.2 points per game and shot 31.4 percent from three, having to play the majority of his 35 games without Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner in the lineup. The Magic's main trio played only six games and 97 minutes together all season.
Orlando really had no sense how good the team actually was because of that and because of those injuries. The Magic's vaunted defense missed some bite with Suggs out.
How long it has taken to return has been frustrating, but a necessary step for Suggs.
Suggs said when he spoke to Orlando Magic Daily and the Orlando Sentinel before Thursday's preseason finale that he was eager to get back. He has been doing mostly mental reps and trying to communicate what he sees to his teammates.
He said he had to learn how to display patience and give himself grace to make sure his body is right for the rigors of the NBA season. He has had to work to slow himself down to get to this point.
It has been a long and arduous process.
"Everything that has been worked on in terms of my body this summer gives me a lot of confidence in doing that," Suggs said before last Thursday's game. "Not having to come out and second-guess or change anything, we have done everything we needed to and checked every box. . . . I'm feeling good. I'm just ready to get back to hooping, to be honest."
It has been hard watching everyone else play, Suggs admitted. But Suggs understood he needed to wait for his body to tell him when he could return. The last stage of his recovery was getting comfortable with stopping at full speed.
There was still a lot that he needed to do to get to game readiness. Games and playing at full speed are a different challenge.
But that is the step he has appeared to clear. That has paved the way for him to make his return for opening night.