No one should be upset that many players on the Orlando Magic head underground during the offseason.
It is the offseason after all. If you do not trust players to do their work quietly, then they are not the right players. And the Magic have a lot of quiet, more reserved guys on the team.
Not everyone can be the boisterous youngster that Noah Penda is -- and if you follow him on Instagram he has shared plenty of his offseason work including clowning Jalen Suggs at every occasion he can get.
But in all the public appearances, social media posts and media that Magic players have given, you can tell there is a growing excitement for the season. This team is hungry to get back on the court together and make a statement.
But talking is one thing. Doing it on the court is another thing.
And so a summer pickup run and seeing Magic players working and playing together gains attention. Seeing Franz Wagner glide through defenders to get to the basket for a nifty finish or Paolo Banchero take a hard dribble and find himself at the rim are appetizers.
Everyone knows that teammates will work out together. But it still seems fairly rare to have a good chunk of the team on the floor together this soon before training camp.
And so last week's Rico Hines pick-up run in Los Angeles represented a rare chance to see. . . the Orlando Magic play.
When Franz Wagner slipped a pass to Paolo Banchero trailing for a three or spun off a defender for a layup or found Jevon Carter in the corner for a three, it looks a lot like the way the Magic will play.
The Magic were all together on the floor at the same time. That feels like a rarity for this team.
The team was all together in Los Angeles
The Orlando Magic's crew featured Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner playing alongside Jamal Cain, Jevon Carter and Jase Richardson. Sean Sweeney and members of the Magic's coaching staff were watching along the sidelines.
There was still not a lot of structure. It was a pick-up run and defensive effort was probably at a 6 or 7 out of 10.
The competition? Kevon Looney was among the NBA players there. But it appeared to be a lot more G-League players and college players getting some run with pros. Do not take everything you see as gospel -- other than some nice footwork in the post for Wagner to get shots and Banchero's accurate 3-point shooting, perhaps.
The Magic's crew was together and won four of the five games, played to nine and ending on a free throw, in the run that was published at least. It was a good showing if wins still matter. But it is just a pick-up game.
The value is still immense. The team was all together in the summer. They are clearly doing some team-building outside of playing together, even if they keep it quiet.
Photos emerged on social media that Nikola Vucevic and Desmond Bane were also in Los Angeles last week. They did not play in the pick-up run, but they surely worked out or spoke together, especially if the coaching staff was also in town.
Paolo Banchero, at least, also went down to Los Angeles earlier in the summer to meet with Anthony Black at USC's campus, where Black's college coach is currently coaching. Black has apparently joined the crew that is working out in California this week.
It has been a rarity in this era.
Magic fans have been hoping to see players get together for a long time. They remember the 2009 and 2010 teams heading to Philadelphia on Jameer Nelson's dime for a week of working out, playing and team-building activities.
More recently, in 2021, the Magic did a team-building and workout weekend in Charleston, South Carolina, that Cole Anthony affectionately called "The Chuck."
The Magic are not a team split apart by any means. But early team-building has been something most fans have wanted to see -- if for anything but the optics.
That has often been hard to do with Franz Wagner playing overseas for his national team. This is the first summer he has not had any international duties, allowing him to come back stateside early for these workouts.
Fans are excited to see so many players on the court together. It can only help in the run-up to training camp -- with mini-camps likely beginning at the Magic's training facility around Labor Day.
Not everyone could make it
Obviously, not everyone could make it to Los Angeles for this team meeting. Even having seven players is significant. But the Orlando Magic did not have the full starting lineup.
Wendell Carter tends to stay centered in Atlanta for his offseason work (that is where his very good friend Angel Reese plays). Jalen Suggs bounces around, working out mostly at home in Minneapolis. He will be heading to Turkiye for a Basketball without Borders camp this week.
Tristan da Silva and Goga Bitadze have spent the last few weeks in training camp for their national teams for FIBA World Cup Qualifiers this weekend.
Da Silva had a strong showing in Thursday's DBB Supercup semifinal against Czechia with 13 points and four rebounds on 5-for-8 shooting. He followed that up with three points on 1-for-7 shooting in the championship win over Croatia. His brother, Oscar da Silva had a better statistical showing in both games.
Bitadze has had an up-and-down run with his national team. But he showed out in Georgia's 101-90 friendly win over Israel, scoring 22 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Germany starts its set of World Cup qualifiers on Thursday and Sunday. Georgia plays on Friday and Monday. Germany is in a good position to advance to the World Cup. Georgia needs wins in both games to keep pace to punch a ticket to next summer's World Cup.
Everyone is clearly keeping busy this offseason. In all likelihood, the players will begin making their way back to Orlando for more group workouts around Labor Day.
Then the final countdown will be on to the start of training camp on Sept. 29.
It is good to see Orlando spending some of that summer getting work in together.
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