Magic Notes: Suggs, Banchero, Da Silva, Bane, Mosley

Magic guard Jalen Suggs is determined to become an even better player than he was before arthroscopic surgery on his left knee brought a premature ending to last season, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Suggs turned in one of his best performances of the season Thursday night with 23 points, seven assists, two steals and two blocks in a win over the Clippers, helping Orlando improve to 5-1 in its last six games.

“I don’t even think I’m chasing my former self,” Suggs said. “I’m reaching for who I can be — player and person. It’s great to look back at the past couple seasons, you know some of the old ways I used to defend, even before the knee, and just my movement patterns and all that. It’s great to be based off of but for me, it’s about how do I keep evolving in this league so I can stay present, keep improving, keep helping us climb the ranks to become one of the better teams. Me improving myself and who I am directly correlates with that.”

Suggs only played 26 minutes on Thursday, but that’s because the Magic held a commanding lead after three quarters. Beede notes that he has been steadily increasing his playing time, going from 16 minutes on opening night to 32 in Tuesday’s matchup with Golden State. Coach Jamahl Mosley said Suggs’ level of playing time is being determined by how his knee responds after each game.

“His ability to do all of the little things, putting his body on the line for those moments, making those hustle plays,” Mosley said in describing Suggs’ value to the team. “… I mean, he’s going for blocks on 7-footers coming down the lane. But those are big plays for us. It’s who he is, it’s what he does, and we need that from him.”

There’s more from Orlando:

• The Magic have been able to win without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero, who’s missing his fifth straight game tonight with a left groin strain, Beede adds. Mosley said earlier this week that Banchero is making progress, but there’s still no set date for his return. “We’ve just handled it as a team,” Franz Wagner said when asked about Orlando’s success without Banchero. “Everybody’s stepping into their role, playing confidently out there and doing what’s asked of them at a high level. If we can continue to do that, we’re in a good spot right now and obviously playing some really good teams in the next couple games, so we’ve got to continue to get better and keep doing what we’re doing.”
• Second-year forward Tristan Da Silva has moved into the starting lineup with Banchero sidelined, Beede states in a separate story. Da Silva filled the same role when Banchero missed several games last season, and he feels “more comfortable” as a starter this time. “Being a starter, that’s already a big deal of responsibility because you set the tone for the rest of the game and most of the time finish the game too,” he said. “My coaches and teammates put a lot of trust into me, and I’m just happy and glad to be in a position like that.”
• Desmond Bane‘s fit with the Magic has looked better lately following an uneven start, notes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman admits there was some risk in acquiring Bane in an offseason trade with Memphis, but there’s a belief that he was the right player to target. “We paid a heavy price,” Weltman said. “There’s one pick that we don’t have control over, but the rest we have control over. And Des entering his prime, and a lot of our key young players under contract … we’re not looking at this as one season. Obviously, we gave up a lot because he’s a highly talented player who fits our roster very well. And we’re betting on ourselves.”
• Mosley didn’t coach the second half of today’s game against New York due to an illness, the team announced (via Twitter). Assistant Joe Prunty took his place.