LAS VEGAS – The last time the Orlando Magic headed to Las Vegas for Summer League play the year was 2005 and they had two young, promising pieces with which they felt they could build a winning franchise around.
Flash forward to 2018, and the Magic’s front office, coaches and players boarded planes on Monday for Las Vegas where they hope to show off the powerful potential of their finds from the past two NBA Drafts.
Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba, the No. 6 picks from the 2017 and ’18 NBA Drafts, will make their eagerly awaited Magic debut together this week in Las Vegas when the team practices and plays several Summer League games in Sin City.
Like in 2005, when the Magic featured young stars Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson – players who ultimately led the franchise to the NBA Finals in 2009, East Finals in 2010 and six consecutive playoff berths – Orlando believes it has a couple of foundational cornerstones it can build around in the 7-foot-1 Bamba and the 6-foot-11 Isaac. Together, they possess 15 ½ feet of wingspan and the Magic are hopeful that their seemingly limitless talent will ultimately lead the franchise back to great heights.
``To play with each other, it’s going to be super fun,’’ said Isaac, who has been working out five days a week to prepare for his second NBA Summer League. ``To add pieces like Mo, Melvin (Frazier Jr.) and Justin (Jackson), I’m looking forward to competing with all of these guys and it’s going to be fun.’’
From 2003-17, the Magic chose to host their own Summer League in Orlando. In that league, most of the games were conducted in practice gyms at the Amway Center or previously at the RDV Sportsplex and were closed off from fans. That style was preferable to most coaches and executives, who liked keeping the focus strictly on basketball and limited the amount of showy fanfare involved.
Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman and GM John Hammond, who took over control of Orlando’s front office last May, made the call last fall to end the Orlando Summer League. Their reasoning was so that the Magic’s young players and rookies could compete in Las Vegas where games more closely resemble regular-season action with screaming fans, Public Address announcers, travel and hotel stays. That decision came as good news to the NBA, which has been pushing for years to have all 30 teams compete in one site for Summer League action.
In Las Vegas for the MGM Resorts Summer League, each NBA team will play a minimum of five games and a maximum of eight games. The games will be the first for observation for new Magic head coach Steve Clifford, who was hired on May 30 to try and get Orlando back in the playoffs following a six-year absence. Clifford will do some on-court coaching during the Magic’s summer practice sessions, but assistant coach Pat Delany will handle the head coaching duties for the summer games.
The Magic begin a mini-camp, of sorts, on Tuesday when they will practice twice on the campus at UNLV. The team is scheduled to practice twice more on Wednesday and Thursday before facing the Brooklyn Nets on Friday at the Cox Pavilion. The Magic will then play the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday and the Phoenix Suns on Monday before the Summer League shifts into a tournament format. The championship game for the league will be on July 17.
Games against Memphis and Phoenix will allow Bamba to face off against two players picked before him in last month’s NBA Draft – Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. (No. 4 pick) and Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton (No. 1 pick). Bamba, who has the longest wingspan in NBA history at 7 feet, 10 inches, has been working for weeks with 76ers star center Joel Embiid and trainer Drew Hanlen and has made tremendous strides in his overall game. The big man is confident that he will not only be able to change games defensively with his towering size around the rim, but also his ability to knock down 3-point shots on the offensive end.
``I think I have all the tools and intangibles to be that transcendent big that the league is now looking at and really wants,’’ said Bamba, who has gotten mentorship from Hall of Fame centers Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson in recent years. ``I’m really looking forward to getting on the court and really looking forward to developing into that (transcendent) player.’’
That’s the Magic’s hopes, as well, for Isaac, who has worked diligently this offseason in hopes that he will be able to make a sizable leap in his second pro season. Isaac was limited to just 27 games as a rookie because of injuries to both ankles and a foot. That injuries couldn’t overshadow the flashes of greatness that the versatile Isaac showed as a rookie as a shot-swatting defender and a versatile offensive piece.
Now, Isaac can’t wait to show off the growth in his game, following weeks of intensive basketball work and weight room sessions.
``Honestly, I would say it’s just all-around growth and with getting all of the reps that I have gotten comes confidence,’’ said Isaac, who has added some noticeable muscle definition to a body that was just 210 pounds a year ago. ``Being in here every day and being around the new coaching staff, new weight room staff and training room staff, the whole environment just feels to be really good now and everybody is on the same page.’’
The Summer League action will allow fellow second-year players Wes Iwundu, Khem Birch and Rodney Purvis to show off the growth that they have made since the end of their rookie seasons. Frazier Jr., the 35th pick of last month’s draft, will make his pro debut for Orlando, but Jackson won’t play as he continues to rehab a shoulder injury suffered this past season while playing for Maryland.
Both native New Yorkers, Isaac and Bamba have known each other for years while playing pick-up basketball, AAU and high school games against one another. They recently got a chance to reconnect after Orlando selected Bamba with the No. 6 pick of the draft. Now, they can’t wait to get out on the court together and show off their enormous potential while playing together.
``I went to dinner with all the draft picks and I snooped in on their dinner, and I just know that Mo is going to be really good for us,’’ Isaac said. ``I’ve known him since USA Basketball and all of that and it’s great to have him on board. He’s going to be a great piece for us and I’m really excited about playing with him.’’
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