After Wednesday’s double digit loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Orlando Magic were run out of the gym 108-71 by the Boston Celtics in their first Summer League back-to-back. Once again, the Magic starters did not play a cohesive brand of basketball. Jalen Suggs left the game in the second quarter with a hand injury. None of the well-known starters (Suggs, Anthony, Hampton, Wagner) played in the second half.
Coming into the Summer League, I think most people expected to see more out of Orlando’s second year players, at this juncture. Cole Anthony has struggled from the field (5-25) and RJ Hampton oozes with potential, but still shows that he is raw in areas. The 8th overall pick, Franz Wagner wasn’t ultra impressive. He missed one too many threes for my liking but I still think he’ll develop into a solid pro. Patience will be needed when it comes to evaluating him and this young team alike.
The Magic Summer League roster isn’t balanced enough to make critical judgements. They didn’t have any of their young bigs to pick and roll with as this roster is very guard-heavy. The most important observation in the first few games is that Jalen Suggs has looked like the real deal. I would be surprised if he plays another Summer League game after that hand injury. Suggs has shown enough to his teammates and coaching staff.
The Orlando Magic will take on the Houston Rockets at 8pm on Sunday night. Will be curious to see if the Magic can have one more solid showing in Las Vegas before Summer League ends. If nothing else, getting a close look at Alperen Sengun and Josh Christopher will be a spectacle. It has since been reported that emerging rookie sensation Jalen Green is likely to miss the rest of Summer League due to a hamstring issue, so the battle of the Jalen's will have to wait until the regular season.
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