Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman raised the stakes on his offseason during the team's exit interviews following their first-round playoff exit.
He made it clear then that the Magic would be making moves with a win-now lens and focusing on improving their team. It truly feels like the Magic are entering a new phase.
In the five or six weeks since then, the rumors have run wild, running the gamut from big moves to small moves. It has forced fans to think about the team's players as they try to construct the Magic's offseason.
And if the fans are doing that kind of thinking, surely the front office is doing so too, exploring every avenue.
That has included looking into breaking up the team's core of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs. Considering how promising Banchero and Wagner are -- not to mention Wagner just starting a max extension and Banchero set to sign his max this offseason -- it has turned into a lot of focus on Suggs and his future.
If the Magic were in the market for a new star, it would undoubtedly cost Suggs and his fresh contract that rises to $35 million as part of the extension he signed last season.
At least in the gameplanning and thought experiments that inevitably happen during the offseason, the Magic have to consider what Suggs might be worth on the market and whether this is a time to consider moving him. They have to think about that for all of their players.
But they should also be considering what they do not yet know about Suggs and what they have seen. Orlando has been patient building its team through the Draft and with its own players. And Suggs should still be a key part of those plans.
It might have been a small sample size, and his numbers from the rest of the season buried the positive signs, but there is a lot of evidence that Suggs' offensive struggles were a function of his role.
When Suggs was the third scorer alongside Banchero and Wagner, he was the exact kind of volume shooter the team needs. It is one of the reasons many of the Magic's solutions are internal and reshifting how they use players.
Suggs could be the volume shooter the Magic needed all along.
In the first five games of last season -- before Banchero tore his oblique -- Suggs made 17 of 40 3-pointers (42.5 percent) and 17 of 32 (53.1 percent) of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, according to data from Second Spectrum. Those 40 3-pointers mean he averaged 8.0 3-point attempts per game and 6.4 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers per game to start the season.
Orlando had an offensive rating of 111.8 points per 100 possessions, 15th in the league through Oct. 30. It is a small sample size and should not be taken as gospel, but it is at least a sign that Suggs can be successful in a secondary role.
In the 97 minutes (six games) that Suggs, Banchero and Wagner shared the floor, the Magic had an offensive rating of just 108.6 points per 100 possessions (a very poor mark) but made 36.5 percent of their three-pointers. There was clearly something working there -- the team had a +8.1 net rating.
The Magic's opening night starting lineup with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter had an offensive rating of only 100.6 points per 100 possessions in only 82 minutes together. They shot 30.0 percent from three as a group.
There was something amiss with the Magic's lineups. Suggs' return does not fix evertyhing.
But the most important thing is that trio with Banchero, Wagner and Suggs. Perhaps the answer is to get Suggs off the ball more, taking more spot-up shots. It is why the focus this offseason has been on boosting the guard next to him, adding a true point guard or another attacking guard like Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton or Coby White (the three favored targets from the trade deadline).
There are a lot of questions Suggs has to shake off entering this new phase for the team. How anybody answers those questions right now would determine how willing they are to trade Suggs.
That small sample playing alongside Banchero and Wagner early in the season suggests how Suggs can elevate his offensive game and how the Magic can get the most from him. But it is still an incredibly small sample.
It is still significant enough -- especially considering how strong Suggs' defense is -- that the Magic should not abandon their hopes for Suggs. It is at least a reason to stick with him, add another offensive player and see if they can make Suggs into the ultimate 3-and-D weapon.