Preseason games are generally not the most exciting form of NBA basketball. And yet, they have their value. Preseason is the first chance of the season for teams to get back on the court together, integrate new players, and try new schemes.
The Magic’s preseason debut against the New Orleans Pelicans was rather underwhelming. Only Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs, and Cole Anthony reached double-digit scoring in the 106-104 loss, and every starter was at least a -12 for the game.
Coming out of the playoffs, everyone knew that the Magic had limitations. They struggled to create offense and could not hit many threes. Signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope away from the Denver Nuggets was the Magic’s answer. The move brought a championship veteran with a solid 3-point shot and defensive reputation to Orlando. It looked like a seamless fit that would help the Magic improve at least some areas of their offense.
Caldwell-Pope’s preseason debut was not overly impressive, though.
Caldwell-Pope did not stand out against the Pelicans
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played only 17 minutes in his first game in a Magic uniform. In those 17 minutes, he recorded 2 points on 1-4 shooting from the field, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal. You shouldn’t always expect new additions to put up huge numbers in their first preseason game with a new team, but seeing Caldwell-Pope not be a factor from behind the arc was disappointing.
Caldwell-Pope took only two threes and missed both of them. The Magic didn’t shoot the three well as a team, making only nine of their 36 3-point attempts. That is not much different than what we saw from the Magic last season. Orlando was, after all, one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league.
Caldwell-Pope was supposed to help with that by giving the Magic a respected 3-point threat and better spacing to work with. His first game with the Magic did not live up to those expectations.
While it was certainly not what most Magic fans hoped to see from the Magic’s big offseason addition, there is no reason to overreact quite yet. Caldwell-Pope shot around 40 percent from three in all of the past four seasons. He will find his shot with the Magic sooner or later. He will get another chance to take the court with his new team when the Magic will face the San Antonio Spurs in their next preseason game on Wednesday.
Caldwell-Pope’s shooting will be critical to the Magic’s success. The spacing he should be able to provide combined with internal improvements is the key to the Magic running a better offense and taking the next step as a team. Likely, the Magic will need Caldwell-Pope to shoot more threes than he is used to. Recently, Caldwell-Pope has averaged around four threes per game. With the Magic, he might have to get that number up to six threes per game.