In the words of Orlando's President of Basketball Operations, Jeff Weltman, the Magic are “ready to kind of walk into the next phase of our team, the next stage of our team." After an impressive preseason debut, rookie Jase Richardson turned a lot of heads, and he's turning into the Magic's hidden gem.
Crowded backcourt
After the departures of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and long-time guard Cole Anthony this summer, the Magic would need to fill those voids with more offensive firepower, and they did just that. Orlando acquired Desmond Bane, brought in Tyus Jones via free agency, and drafted Jase Richardson.
On paper, the Magic have a very deep roster that could go ten to 12 men deep on any given night, and their backcourt has a tremendous amount of talent.
Although Orlando has a ton of depth, there will be opportunities for Jase Richardson and others to showcase their talents as injuries are bound to happen, and Jamahl Mosley consistently preaches for his guys to "stay ready."
Richardson was not and is not expected to come in and change life on day one, but he may have the opportunity to do so much earlier than anticipated.
Jalen Suggs (left knee trochlea cartilage tear) is still recovering from his surgery and is not guaranteed to be ready by the start of the regular season. Suggs was also ruled out of the first preseason game against Miami and remains doing non-contact work in practice, according to Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel.
As the Magic work on getting Suggs back to 100 percent, that likely will thrust Tyus Jones into the starting five and allow Jase to come off the bench alongside Anthony Black.
Richardson's opportunity
Tyus Jones' role is safe as he's a proven veteran who has chemistry and continuity with Desmond Bane. They were teammates in Memphis and already impressed in the preseason opener. Anthony Black has struggled significantly on offense, and now, going into year three, he needs to earn the coaches' and front office's trust, as he's expected to make a big leap forward.
With a lot of uncertainty in the backcourt, this is the perfect chance for Richardson to build off his strong preseason performance and solidify himself as a consistent rotational player in the second unit.
In the Magic's first preseason game against the Heat, Richardson recorded 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal, while shooting five of 11 from the floor and a perfect three of three from behind the arc.
"There's just a level of confidence that he possesses reading the game, recognizing what guys are doing and how they're playing with him," Mosley said of Richardson. "His speed is such an advantage for him, but then the other side of it is we talked all the time about how inquisitive he is — that showed up tonight with his basketball IQ in a lot of these situations."
Over the years, the Magic were banking on Cole Anthony to turn into a consistent scorer off the bench, but it never fully came to fruition. Richardson's impressive debut makes it look as if the Magic have finally found a legit combo scoring threat off the bench that can provide ball-handling and shooting.
Richardson is going to continue to get better with time and experience, and he's turning into the Orlando Magic's secret weapon off the bench.