Before Orlando‘s preseason finale against the Pelicans on Thursday night, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said Jalen Suggs “responded well” to the limited contact work he did in practice this week.
Although Suggs was ruled out ahead of the final exhibition, it’s a relatively positive outcome for the Magic guard, who is recovering from a left knee trochlea cartilage tear suffered last season.
“He’s slowly responding, which is a good sign,” Mosley said after morning shootaround inside the AdventHealth Training Center.
Suggs, who until this week had only done non-contact individual work, was observed by the media after shootaround going through some shooting drills from the left side of the perimeter on his own. Mosley said Suggs did some 5-on-0 work (offensive drills with five players facing no defense) during the session itself.
Typically, full contact is the precursor to an injured player’s return to game action. But with less than a week until opening night (next Wednesday vs. Miami), it’s unclear whether or not there’s enough time for Suggs to go through the necessary work on the court to be cleared for game action.
Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman previously said at the team’s media day Sept. 29 the organization was targeting opening night for Suggs.
“You’d love to say there is enough time,” Mosley said Thursday. “In the same breath you have to say, ‘are we going to be smart about how we’re approaching it?’ So, we’ll see what he does, how he responds to what was done [Wednesday,] which was good. We’ll have a couple more scrimmages where we’ll be able to go ‘live,’ some 3-on-3, some 5-on-5, and we’ll see how he responds after each one of those days.
“Then we’ll be able to tell you accordingly, you’ll know whether he is or isn’t [ready] on opening night,” Mosley added.
In place of Suggs, Mosely has started veteran guard Tyus Jones alongside fellow newcomer Desmond Bane and regulars Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr. this preseason. Anthony Black, Jett Howard and rookie Jase Richardson have provided depth in the backcourt.
“That’s going to be something we’ll continue to look at tonight as well as [when] we have a couple more scrimmages in practice down the stretch,” Mosley said about Orlando’s rotations.
Prior to Thursday’s exhibition, Bane had only played once with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner against an opponent. The German forward sat out Orlando’s first preseason game in Puerto Rico and both Banchero and Bane had the night off when the Magic hosted Miami at Kia Center last Sunday.
Bane, who spent the first five years of his career with the Grizzlies before the Magic acquired him in a blockbuster trade this summer, understands the importance of on-court availability throughout the marathon that is an 82-game NBA season.
“It’s not a sprint though, it’s a marathon,” he said. “We want everybody to be healthy and feeling good towards the end of the season. That’s the biggest thing. In Memphis, me, Ja (Morant) and Jaren (Jackson Jr.), we didn’t get enough time on the floor together just with injuries and different things.
“So, the more we can play together, the more chemistry we’ll have.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com