Team Needs: Shooting, Backcourt Playmaking, More Shooting
The Orlando Magic were one of the young teams in the NBA that took a big leap last year, earning the 5-seed in the East before losing in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That series offered a clear illustration of where the Magic need to get better, but also showed that they have a legitimate young star in Paolo Banchero. The core in Orlando, as of now, seems to be Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs, who finally got a healthy season to show what he can be and impressed. Now the task is building out the talent around them, and filling in the gaps, which is most notably the need for more shooting. The Magic were woefully bad from three in their playoff series, and the lack of backcourt playmaking was glaring as well. With the 18th pick in the Draft, they had a chance to try and address that need some, while the expectation is to be a big player in free agency when it comes to the top shooters on the market.
Ultimately, they landed on one of the Draft’s more veteran players in Colorado’s Tristan da Silva, to help fill some of that shooting void.
Tristan da Silva (No. 18 Overall), B: da Silva is an older player, having turned 23 earlier this year. That might speak to a perceived lack of upside, but da Silva is a player that takes very little off the table. Orlando can benefit from his shooting, at the very least, and he’s a quality ball-mover who projects as a solid supporting defender.
