3 Orlando Magic players who gained the most from the Playoffs
3 Orlando Magic players who gained the most from the Playoffs
3. Jalen Suggs
A lot of the narrative around Jalen Suggs entering his draft was his showing in the NCAA Tournament. The half-court shot that sent Gonzaga to the national championship game was the highlight replayed and hung with everybody as the draft came up. It was that highlight and that potential that had Magic fans high-fiving when he fell to them at No. 5.
It took two injury-filled seasons for Suggs to find himself and what his role should be. But he became one of the key players for the Magic this season. He became the player who defined the team's culture and breakthrough this season.
Suggs had his ups and downs in the Playoffs, but overall he acquitted himself well. He, too, stepped up on the Playoff stage and gained a lot of fans from the experience with how hard he plays and gets after his matchup.
There is a reason Suggs is going to be on the All-Defensive team for years to come.
Overall, Donovan Mitchell shot 15 for 34 and scored 44 points with Jalen Suggs as his defender, according to NBA.com's tracking data. He forced four turnovers. He was just as strong against Darius Garland, forcing six turnovers.
And he did a lot of this on a bad knee after his injury in Game 2.
Mitchell got the better of him in Game 7. But Suggs provided the moment of the series when he went chin-to-chin with Garland in Game 4 and smiled and laughed as Garland tried to get under his skin. That just defines Suggs and what he brings to the Magic.
Suggs' real development this season was his consistency on offense. He had an up-and-down series, but his ups were particularly strong and showed how much he relishes the Playoffs.
Suggs finished the series averaging 14.7 points per game. His shooting went up and down, hitting only 29.2 percent of his threes. But his home/road splits mirrored the series.
Suggs scored 19.3 points per game in the Magic's three home wins in the series and shot 11 for 23 from deep. He had 22 points, six rebounds, and four assists and hit 6 of 13 3-pointers in the Magic's Game 6 victory.
Orlando needed some more consistent scoring on the road especially to win the series. They will be spending their offseason trying to supplement that scoring. But Suggs showed what he is capable of doing on both ends and why he is the team's heart and soul.