The preseason is very similar to Summer League.
It looks like an NBA game -- it has the team names, the jerseys and the arena -- but it is not quite a real game. Players are not playing regular minutes. Some players will be held out. Teams are working on different things. Players are sometimes put in different contexts.
For the most part, fans do not have to worry about the stars. They know how to get themselves right for the regular season. They are playing fewer minutes.
Role players? Some of the things they do are mirages. They are playing more minutes than usual.
Then again, some of the things could be real. More opportunities give a hint of what they can do when their minutes normalize. It is usually role players who show their progress in these expanded minutes.
If that is the case, no player stood out more for the Orlando Magic this preseason than Tristan da Silva.
The now-third-year-forward is usually the quiet and perceptive one in the locker room. His game was never loud.
So to see him letting it fly so freely, taking more than 10 3-pointers in each of the first three preseason games and making them accurately, was as much a symbol of the new life in this offense as anything else.
Da Silva was the most intriguing player outcome in the preseason.
"He has done a really nice job on both ends," coach Sean Sweeney said during practice last week. "I love the aggressiveness he is showing. He is hunting the right shots. Defensively, he has done a really good job with his positioning. He has been picking up our schemes really well, and he makes great effort plays throughout the course of his minutes."
Tristan da Silva finished his preseason averaging 16.5 points per game, finishing behind only Paolo Banchero.
He shot 9.3 3-point field goal attempts per game -- taking only five in Friday's win over the Miami Heat to drag that average down. He made 37.8 percent of his threes overall (14 for 38).
This preseason suggested there could be a lot more for da Silva to provide.
Da Silva on volume
It is unlikely Tristan da Silva will shoot at that volume. His increase in volume was more a symbol of the Orlando Magic's new attitude toward three-point shooting.
But da Silva becoming this kind of a reliable three-point shooter would change a lot of things for the Magic -- as any improvement in shooting would.
In the preseason, 37 of da Silva's 53 field goal attempts came from beyond the arc (69.8 percent). Last season, he averaged 4.2 3-point attempts per game, making 37.4 percent from deep.
More than half -- 51.8 percent -- of his total field goal attempts were threes. He shot a team-high 258 catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts last year, making 38.0 percent of those shots, according to Second Spectrum. Catch-and-shoot 3-pointers accounted for 86.3 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Da Silva making these spot-up shots is the key to his success. If he increases his volume, that only increases the chances of making these shots.
"I think obviously confidence is a big part of it," Tristan da Silva said after Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. "But I think more than anything, it is just the nature of the game that we are trying to play, the role that I've been assigned.
"It's more so that I'm not shooting all these shots because I feel good about my shot right now, and then when I don't feel good, I won't shoot. This is kind of the role I have been assigned. My shooting ability is going to open the game for other players. That's why I'm shooting that many."
That is something da Silva has needed to do with how up and down his 3-point shooting has been.
His shooting is essential to his role. And essential to what the Magic will need.
What da Silva's shooting means for the team
The increase in volume is certainly a product of Tristan da Silva playing more in the preseason. But it is also certainly a product of the team's change in offensive style. The Magic are trying to spread the ball more, emphasizing better spacing and passing.
Sean Sweeney does not want players hesitating to shoot. The team is trying to put a history of shooting struggles behind it. They are embracing the shot now.
There has never been a specific number for a player or the team that coach Sean Sweeney wants them to take. It is all about taking the right shots. That has been a constant message, too.
"What's the most he can take? To me, that is the number for him," Sweeney said after Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. "He is a phenomenal shooter. He works at it. He does a great job of finding the right shots. If the opportunity presents itself to take 5, take five. If it's 10, take 10. If it's 15, take 15. And then make the right decision when you have the ball each time."
Da Silva knows that his ability to shoot changes a lot for the Magic. It forces defenses to stay out of the paint and respect shooting threats. The Magic hope that spacing alone creates that space.
At some point, the Magic need to make those shots and make defenses pay for collapsing to the paint.
Several players have said that Sweeney has put a lot of focus on shot preparation. That has helped change the mindset, too.
"I think we work a lot on shot preparation and being ready," da Silva said after Tuesday's game. "Whenever that happens, and you get a pass, and you are down and ready to shoot it, you shouldn't second-guess whether you should shoot it or not. If it's a good look, let it fly. For me, it kind of turned into not turning down open looks or good looks. Every decent look that I can get, I've been taking so far."
That kind of confidence helped da Silva turn in a stellar preseason. It helped raise hope that not only he, but the rest of the team will shoot the ball better from deep.
Da Silva certainly seemed to be a bellweather for the new approach the Magic are bringing offensively and their new approach to shooting.
If da Silva's shooting burst lasts into the regular season, things will be very different for the Magic this season.
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