The Orlando Magic have begun preparations for their Summer League with all eyes on their trip to Las Vegas and their debut Thursday against the Sacramento Kings.
Everyone will be watching the debut of rookies Jase Richardson and Noah Penda. This is essentially what Summer League is made for. It gives those young players their first exposure to NBA coaching and what the team hopes to accomplish.
There will also be a lot of eyes on Tristan da Silva as the second-year forward seems in line for a rotation spot with the Magic after the team's busy offseason.
The rest of the roster? The Magic have not always been great at using their Summer League roster to fill the rest of the roster.
They have often turned elsewhere to fill in their two-way spots. While the Magic have an open roster spot, the biggest remaining intrigue for the offseason is who the Magic will spend those last two-way roster spots on.
Instead, Magic fans should view Summer League as a chance to see how they can get their new roster players integrated as quickly as possible. The Magic seem already to be a few steps ahead.
There are not too many names Magic fans would know or get excited about on the team's Summer League roster aside from the three roster players and two-way guard Ethan Thompson.
But there is at least one familiar name who should make Richardson's transition to the Magic that much more comfortable. He will play alongside two former Michigan State teammates.
Jase Richardson will have two familiar teammates
Jase Richardson slowly built himself into a reliable and critical player as a freshman for a veteran Michigan State team. He averaged 12.1 points per game on 49.3/41.2/83.6 splits for the entire season and 16.1 points per game on 47.0/42.0/81.9 shooting splits in 15 games as a starter.
Richardson's story in his time with the Spartans was one where he slowly gained trust and then excelled at the most critical part of the season, helping his team win the Big Ten title and Big Ten Tournament.
It makes sense the Magic want to have key players from that team around. And having Richardson playing alongside some familiar teammates could help with his transition.
Not that these players are not good in their own rights.
The fellow Spartans joining the Magic's Summer League team is guard Jaden Akins and center Marcus Bingham Jr.
Akins was the senior leader for the Spartans and took on much of the point guard and playmaking roles for them last year. He led Michigan State with 12.8 points per game in that egalitarian offense.
But Akins was not much of a playmaker, averaging only 1.5 assists per game. He also had shooting splits of 39.8/29.3/76.2 in his senior season.
The poor numbers may have more to do with Akins being pushed into a bigger role than he should handle. He shot a more robust 36.4 percent from three as a junior and, in a smaller role, made 42.2 percent of his threes as a sophomore. He is a career 35.2 percent 3-point shooter.
But Akins, a 6-foot-4 guard, is a typical big guard for Michigan State. And the Spartans lived on mid-range jumpers last year.
At the very least, Richardson could be on the floor with a backcourt mate he is used to and knows how to play off him. That is a benefit for sure.
While Bingham played for Michigan State, he graduated in 2022 after averaging 9.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He has played his last two seasons in Israel with Hapoel Haifa and Hapoel Tel Aviv. He averaged 9.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for Tel Aviv last year after a midseason transfer from Holon in Israel.
The goal though for the Magic is to get their key roster players up to speed as quickly as possible. They want to put them in the best position possible to gain a lot from this week in Las Vegas, or for however long they are playing.
Richardson will have a familiar teammate helping him through practices as the team prepares for the trip to Las Vegas.