Jamal Cain knows what opportunity means.
The fifth-year forward has bounced around the league mostly on two-way contracts, seeking a steady place to put his feet. He found it last year, stepping in for the Orlando Magic late in the season, delivering one of the highlight plays of the entire Playoffs and establishing a place in the rotation.
Cain may be fighting for minutes and a rotation spot, but he is someone the team can comfortably turn to when needed. More importantly, Cain has his feet on the ground. He knows what the team will ask of him when his number is called.
As he enters this fifth season, the first time in his career he has a full-time contract and has stayed with the same team, there is a level of confidence and belief that comes with that.
Cain may end up out of the rotation, a player the team can lean on when the time calls for it. But that confidence is important and something that can carry him through when he gets his opportunity.
The truth is that the opportunity has come early thanks to injuries to Anthony Black, Noah Penda and Jonathan Isaac. He will almost assuredly play in Wednesday's opener against the Atlanta Hawks. And he and the rest of the bench will need to be ready to fill in and step up from the jump.
"It just means guys got to step up," Cain said after shootaround on Wednesday. "It's a next-man mentality type of league. We've been working. We're ready. We're going to have to step up in big ways to help this team."
There is undoubtedly excitement for the season to get going at long last. There has been a lot of pent-up energy after the way last season went and how it ended.
The Magic may not be at full strength to start, but there is an eagerness and anticipation to get this thing going. And the confidence that they can still deliver.
A team needs everyone on the roster at some point during the season. The Magic will need their bench immediately.
A new bench group
The good news for the Orlando Magic is that their starting lineup is intact and will play together to open the season. That was the basis for much of the Magic's offseason and the decisions they made. They believed they had one of the best starting lineups in the league.
The bench is where the team has struggled, certainly depleted by the injuries to the team's starters during the last two years.
Orlando finished last year 26th in the league with 32.6 points per game off the bench. That is not completely dispositive, considering the bottom 10 teams in the league in bench scoring all made the Playoffs, including the New York Knicks who scored fewer points than the Orlando Magic.
But the Magic found their most success in 2024 when they had one of the highest scoring benches in the league. Regardless, the Magic know they will need support from the bench. Especially while dealing with injuries to a high scorer like Anthony Black and another potential contributor like Noah Penda.
The Magic are putting a lot of faith in their depth, as all teams must at some point in the season.
"Definitely have confidence in our guys," coach Sean Sweeney said after shootaround Wednesday. "Confidence comes from evidence. Our guys throughout the preseason and throughout practices have given us evidence that they are ready to go. We are excited to do it tonight."
The bench certainly played its part during the preseason.
Tristan da Silva was the standout of the preseason with his improved 3-point shooting and volume. He had been a key bench player in the past. He will be leaned on again for a boost.
Orlando will hope to get a scoring boost too from Jase Richardson and Jamal Cain. And the team can find points between Nikola Vucevic's jump shooting and Goga Bitadze's ability to clean up around the rim.
There is a lot of potential there.
What everyone knows is that it will take everyone to make this work.
"It's going to be a team effort," da Silva said after shootaround Wednesday. "It's not just on one guy. It's on multiple guys. It's on everybody to pick up that slack. You don't want to start the season with injuries, but it's part of the game. Just got to figure out how to overcome that."
The good news is that all of those lineups will be supported by players in the team's starting lineup.
Now all that is left is to see the team take the court.
Ready to get started
Helping lift the energy is the start of the season itself.
The Orlando Magic have had to sit all offseason with the bad taste of their mouth of last year's season and the seven-game series loss to the Detroit Pistons. The team is eager to get back on the floor.
There is undoubtedly a new energy around the team with a new coach. The team has a fresh start, even with how familiar everyone is with each other.
That familiarity is giving the team confidence. The work the team has put in throughout training camp is too. Everyone is prepared to step up.
"Definitely giving me confidence. We have been around these guys. It's not like we haven't been in the situations with the same team," Jamal Cain said after shootaround Wednesday. "Just ready to get this thing rolling. We've been bumping against each other for so long. You all have been here, we've been going hard. Just excited to finally play against somebody else."
All that preparation has led up to this moment. The season is about to tip-off.
The Magic will need everyone on the roster at some point to step up and show out. That is the nature of the NBA. The bench will need to step up early.
The team is as ready as it will be for the moment.
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