Magic’s Tristan da Silva ranked among best rookies in Summer League 

For the first time in a while, the Orlando Magic did not have a lottery pick. This year, they made their draft pick 18th overall. The middle of the first round is not necessarily where most teams usually discover their next star, but that was not what the Magic were looking for anyway. 

The Magic have their star already. Paolo Banchero already made an All-Star team in only his second season, and many more will follow. Plus, the Magic also have Franz Wagner, a player they deemed worthy of a max rookie extension. 

They needed reliable role players to put around Banchero and used their first-round pick to get just that. Having spent four years in college, Tristan da Silva is an older rookie—older than Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner actually—and looks ready to contribute right away. 

There is a lot of excitement about da Silva, Anthony Black, and Jett Howard among Magic fans, especially after Summer League. All three showed flashes of what they could provide for the Magic in 2024-25, but the rookie impressed especially. 

Tristan da Silva made ESPN's list of the best rookies in Summer League

With the Miami Heat crowned as the Summer League champions and NBA basketball officially done for a while, ESPN's Kevin Pelton ranked some of the best players. In the category "best rookies," Tristan da Silva made an appearance. 

The Magic rookie was ranked second, just behind Miami's Kel'el Ware, who recorded several double-doubles. Pelton lauded da Silva for his outside shooting, mentioning that he went 10-17 from behind the line. 

While he still needs to prove that he can provide that same kind of shooting against better NBA competition, his shooting should earn him a shot at rotational minutes. The Magic need as many shooters as they can possibly find around Paolo Banchero. 

If da Silva can provide similarly reliable shooting at the NBA level, this draft pick will officially go down as a slam dunk for the Magic. He doesn't need to shoot 59 percent from three. Somewhere around 37 percent would be fine for a rookie and still help the Magic out a lot.    

Da Silva did more than just shoot, as Pelton points out. 

"Perhaps more sustainable was da Silva's playmaking, as he handed out nine assists in three games," Pelton writes. 

The Magic elected to not go after a traditional point guard this summer and give Jalen Suggs a shot to run the show alongside Banchero and Wagner. Playmaking was one of the team's bigger problems in the playoffs, and they did not do much to address it. Anyone who can make plays for others will be a valuable asset for the Magic's 2024-25 team. So far, it looks like da Silva should be able to provide some of that alongside his shooting. 

We will still have to wait and see how da Silva actually performs at the NBA level, but so far, every excitement around him seems warranted, and the national media has picked up on it as well.