As competitors, any time you step out on the court you want to win. It’s tied into the DNA of professional athletes. The Orlando Magic constructed a group of young men to try to string together a couple of wins in some summertime exhibition games. Unfortunately, the Magic had minimum success in the record book, ending their time in Las Vegas 0-5. 

Should this hold any weight on the Magic and their fans? Long story short, my answer is no. Although the Magic are one of the youngest teams in the league by average age, they still only sent two non-rookies on contract out to play in Summer League (Kevon Harris and Caleb Houstan) this year. The team was also led by two lottery picks from this previous draft in Anthony Black and Jett Howard. Outside of those four players, this roster was built with fill-in guys who will most likely end up in the G-League or playing overseas once regular season rolls around.

Kevon and Caleb were both shut down after just two games, and the rookies only played in three-of-five games. We saw great success from both rookies through stretches, including a 22-point outing from Howard, and a tip-in buzzer beater from Black to send one of the games to overtime.

Personally, the biggest takeaway from this Orlando Magic summer league came outside of the four lines. To my knowledge, the Orlando Magic was the only team at summer league to have their entire team show out to one of the games, and sit courtside supporting their teammates. That exemplifies the unity of this group and what they are building here in Orlando. 

Brandon and I discussed the impact of summer league, the mindset of this Magic team, and a trade Orlando made sending numerous second-round picks to Phoenix for a first-round pick swap today on In The Zone. Check out the segment below, and stream the show Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on 96.9 The Game or the iHeartMedia app.