3 Questions Tristan da Silva will need to answer immediately 

1. Can he hold his own defensively?

Defense is the most important piece of the Magic's recent success. While they struggled offensively last season, they were great on the other end of the floor. The 2024-25 season should not be much different. 

Jalen Suggs and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope might very well be one of the best defensive backcourts in the league, Jonathan Isaac will finally enter the season without having to rehab any injuries in the offseason, and Anthony Black should get more minutes than last season. 

With all of the Magic's strong defenders, da Silva will likely never have to go up against the best opponent on the court regularly. It seems unlikely that Coach Jamahl Mosley will put the rookie on some of the best forwards in the league. 

And yet, going from guarding college and Summer League players to NBA rotational talent will still be a big change. Anyone who wants to play significant minutes with the Magic needs to be able to hold their own on defense. 

If da Silva can do that as well as hit some open shots, he should be able to have a positive impact on the Magic's season. If he can't, we might just see him go through a similar process to last season's rookies, working on his game outside the Magic's rotation.