While the preseason is an opportunity for teams to ramp up for the regular season, it\u2019s also a chance for players further down the bench to see the floor.<\/p>\n
For the Magic<\/a>, that includes two-way players Colin Castleton<\/a> and Alex Morales<\/a>.<\/p>\n As two-way players, Castleton and Morales will go between the NBA and the G League<\/a>, but they\u2019re limited to being active for just 50 NBA games and can\u2019t play in the playoffs. In addition to spending time with Orlando<\/a>, they\u2019ll also play for Osceola<\/a>, the franchise\u2019s G League affiliate.<\/p>\n And this year, they\u2019ll have to get used to playing for two new head coaches: Sean Sweeney<\/a> with Orlando and Ronnie Burrell<\/a> with Osceola.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been very easy,\u201d Morales said recently about getting to know both Sweeney and Burrell. \u201cThey\u2019re two great guys and relatable, so the conversations and all that stuff have been very smooth. Two straightforward guys who are going to tell you how it is and tell you what you\u2019re supposed to do. So, it\u2019s been very smooth for the most part.\u201d<\/p>\n Added Castleton: \u201cJust being able to balance knowing both coaches, I\u2019ve been able to talk with both coaches and just get to know them on a personal level.\u201d<\/p>\n For Morales, this season is his second on a two-way contract, which he didn\u2019t sign until mid-February with the Magic. Although he appeared in only four NBA games last season, Morales has become a mainstay for Osceola.<\/p>\n In total, he\u2019s appeared in 127 G League games with Osceola, averaging 10.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals during 28.1 minutes per night across four seasons.<\/p>\n Although he\u2019s Osceola\u2019s all-time rebounding leader with 780, Morales believes he has a spot in the NBA. He\u2019s hoping to prove that this season.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really have too many individual goals, but just to showcase that all of the intangibles and stuff that I contribute to Osceola and into the G League, I\u2019m able to do the same thing at this level,\u201d the 6-foot-6 forward said.<\/p>\n Compared to Morales, Castleton has more NBA experience.<\/p>\n The 6-foot-11 center who attended Father Lopez in Daytona Beach and finished his college career at the University of Florida has appeared in 46 NBA games with the Lakers, Grizzlies, Raptors, Sixers and Magic.<\/p>\n He made 26 of those appearances on multiple 10-day contracts with Toronto, Memphis and Philadelphia during the 2024-25 campaign, but saw fewer chances this past season because of a broken left thumb.<\/p>\n His biggest goal this year is to stay healthy after he signed another two-way contract with Orlando and spent Las Vegas Summer League with the Magic.<\/p>\n \u201cThis season if I\u2019m fully healthy when an opportunity arises, I\u2019ll be able to take advantage of that,\u201d Castleton said.<\/p>\n Both Morales and Castleton spent most of their offseason working in the AdventHealth Training Center. They were some of the earliest Magic players to have worked for Sweeney this summer before more of the team reported back to the facility.<\/p>\n As two-way players going between the G League and NBA, it\u2019s not a given they\u2019ll be able to play consistently for Sweeney, but so far they\u2019ve made an impression on the first-time head coach.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve done a great job with their energy each and every day,\u201d Sweeney said about Morales and Castleton earlier this week. \u201cBoth those guys have a dirty work mentality where they\u2019re really trying to do the little things that help a team win, maybe some of those invisible plays that don\u2019t necessarily show up in the box score.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen them put a lot of time and effort into developing on the things that we\u2019ve asked them to get better at,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s been great to have them at practice each day and they\u2019ve each shown signs of improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n