{"id":418005,"date":"2026-10-03T21:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T21:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/418005\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T21:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T21:20:08","slug":"jamal-cain-ready-for-larger-role-with-orlando-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/418005\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamal Cain ready for larger role with Orlando Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the fourth quarter of Game 4 between the Magic<\/a> and Pistons in the first round of the NBA playoffs<\/a> last season, Jamal Cain<\/a> dribbled across midcourt, moved past Detroit star Cade Cunningham and turned the corner toward the basket.<\/p>\n

In a matter of moments, the 6-foot-7 forward drove downhill, elevated toward the basket and slammed down a one-handed dunk over Pistons center Jalen Duren.<\/p>\n

The play went viral and was heralded as one of the best dunks of the season, even though Detroit won the series and ended Orlando<\/a>\u2018s season in the first round for the third year in a row.<\/p>\n

While Cain appreciates the internet fame from the highlight, he believes there\u2019s more to his game than just that one play as he enters a critical season in his pro career \u2014 and he wants the league to know it, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat I\u2019ve been working (and) that I\u2019ve always been an NBA-caliber player,\u201d Cain said during the team\u2019s media day Monday. \u201cAnd this is the year to prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long before his viral dunk, Cain was a newcomer to the Magic. A year ago, he entered the season on a two-way contract with Orlando. It was his fourth consecutive year on a two-way contract and his third in a row with a different franchise.<\/p>\n

Previously with the New Orleans Pelicans and Miami Heat, Cain was trying to carve out a role and stick with one team. He did that in his first season with Orlando by appearing in a career-high 40 NBA games. Plus, he earned a standard contract that includes a second-year club option for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n

With his best pro season behind him and his team option picked up<\/a> by the Magic, Cain only wanted to work more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t do a lot of vacationing,\u201d he said about his summer. \u201cI just stayed in the gym because I felt like my role and my expectations would be bigger than (they were) last year. I just tried to be around my teammates as much as possible. I\u2019m excited for this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s far from the only player on the roster excited to see what the Magic can accomplish under new head coach Sean Sweeney.<\/p>\n

Cain understands this season carries more importance. It\u2019s part of the reason why he spent as much time in the gym as he did over the summer.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s aiming to translate that offseason work into consistent results and build off his strong finish last season. Across the final 17 games, he averaged 9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists during 19.6 minutes per night.<\/p>\n

\"TheJamal Cain brought the house down when he dunked over Detroit center Jalen Duren during Game 4 of the first round of the NBA playoffs last season at Kia Center. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year is definitely different than the other four prior years,\u201d Cain said. \u201cJust because I feel like I didn\u2019t have a real expectation on my play. Of course, teams wanted me to come in better, but I feel like this is the first year where they were looking at me to actually come back and produce in some type of way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I just didn\u2019t want to take that for granted,\u201d he added. \u201cI wanted to make sure I was prepared, wanted to make sure I was ready to be able to help my team, help the coaches, and just help in any way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cain believes he can help the Magic by becoming a more reliable shooter, even after shooting a career-high 38.4% from 3-point range. He understands his role is to be the type of player that provides an energy boost off the bench.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also a big believer in Orlando\u2019s decision to bring back the majority of the roster from a year ago, including himself. He doesn\u2019t want to let his teammates down because of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith being a part of three different organizations, I realize how much having the same guys around you matter,\u201d Cain said. \u201cIt gives you an edge when it comes to playoff basketball and those hard moments. \u2026 I feel like that\u2019s a huge advantage for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the fourth quarter of Game 4 between the Magic and Pistons in the first round of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2295,139,141,1239,140,109,76046,110],"class_list":["post-418005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nba","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-social-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}