Next man up. That was the mentality of Orlando's head coach Jamahl Mosley after an injury to his best player, Paolo Banchero, in an early season matchup against the Chicago Bulls. That next man up just happened to be a player with no NBA experience but a ton of potential.
Tristan da Silva has started 27 games for the fourth-seeded Orlando Magic and has played a pivotal role in replacing Paolo Banchero. He has played in 34 games, is not a liability on the defensive side of the ball, and can knock down the three. He has had some ups and downs, but that is to be expected from a first-year player, especially if he is replacing the best player on the roster.
It was almost a blessing in disguise that Banchero sustained an injury early in the year because it prompted the head coach to play the rookie significant minutes. He has had some great performances this year. Da Silva scored 18 points against the Miami Heat, 20 in a loss against the New York Knicks, then had 18 points against the Boston Celtics, and 21 points in a win against the Brooklyn Nets—Not too bad for a rookie selected with the 18th pick in last years draft.
Tristan da Silva has shown flashes of being more than a solid role player
But one of his last performances has fans in Central Florida questioning if he could be more than what this organization expects from him. After all, he led the team to a win against the Toronto Raptors, scoring 25 points, grabbing four rebounds, and dishing out two assists. Head coach Jamahl Mosley played him a team-high 37 minutes in the victory.
Those 37 minutes carry weight, largely because if the head coach is confident in playing him significant minutes in the regular season, he may also feel confident doing it in the playoffs. Mosley has been very strategic in the way he is building da Silva's confidence by letting him play through his struggles most times.
His 36 minutes against the New York Knicks were second only to Cole Anthony's 37. Da Silva finished the game on Monday with only eight points, six rebounds, and two assists. So, it's clear that Mosley is attempting to build up his confidence for something bigger down the road. You can only get better by playing on the NBA court and Mosley is a coach who is truly building a young player to become something special in the near future.
That ceiling placed on him in the draft to just become a good role player may have risen because of the experience that coach Mosley has allowed him to gather. Right now, da Silva is looking like one of the best players on an NBA roster without Banchero and Wagner—a player who isn't limited on both sides of the ball and has the ability to ignite team chemistry.
But it will be interesting to see just how much of an impact he can have once the two stars return to the fold. He could be a sleeper candidate for Rookie of the Year if he can continue to win games and grow within Mosley's team concept.
We know that the Magic organization believes in da Silva, and we will see just how much once these games start to really matter and teams start competing for playoff positioning later in the season.