{"id":443850,"date":"2026-10-31T22:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T22:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/443850\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T22:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T22:50:10","slug":"grading-every-orlando-magic-player-after-5-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/443850\/","title":{"rendered":"Grading every Orlando Magic player after 5 games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Orlando Magic haven’t gotten off to a perfect start, but they are 2-3 after salvaging their three-game road trip<\/a> with a win Friday in Toronto. How has each player performed over this very small sample? Let’s put on our professor’s cap and hand out some grades!<\/p>\n

Starting Lineup:\"Orlando<\/p>\n

Oct 23, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) drives to the basket past Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) in the second quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Jalen Suggs: Having only played in the Magic’s first three games, Suggs did not get off to a good start. There were moments of disruption defensively, though he only made one of his nine triple tries, shooting 35.7 percent from the floor. Grade: D<\/p>\n

Desmond Bane: The seven-year veteran got off to a rough 4-for-19 start from 3-point range after just two games. But Bane settled in, including a season-high 28-point performance on six made threes in the Magic’s 121-114 win on Friday against Toronto. Orlando will need him to be a reliable spark in Suggs and Banchero’s absence. Grade: B-<\/p>\n

Franz Wagner: Aside from one game (Wednesday v. Raptors), Wagner’s played excellent basketball, save for his 3-point shooting. He’s seeing the floor exceptionally well and has been incredibly crafty getting to his spots inside the arc. The rhythm and flow he is playing with, especially as the lead creator, have been quite promising. Grade: A<\/p>\n

Paolo Banchero: You could argue<\/a> that Banchero was the Magic’s best player after two games; you could say the same about Wagner, up to this point. This grade feels a little incomplete because he has only played in 1.5-ish games. Alas, Banchero was off to a great start pre-injury. Grade: Incomplete, but A<\/p>\n

Wendell Carter Jr.: Carter has scored 20 points thrice in five games. For perspective, he scored 20 five times in 78 games. He’s also been their most impactful rebounder thus far, though he — and everyone else — must improve in that department. Grade: B+<\/p>\n

Top Reserves:\"Orlando<\/p>\n

October 30, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Orlando Magic Tristan da Silva (23) celebrates against the Toronto Raptors during the second half in their Emirates Cup game at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Anthony Black: While he missed all of preseason plus the Magic’s first two games, Black didn’t miss a beat. In three games, he’s averaged 14.3 points and 5.3 assists on 53.1 percent shooting and 57.1 percent from 3-point range (8-14). He’s in position to make a lot of money this summer if he keeps this up. Grade: A-<\/p>\n

Tristan da Silva: Head coach Sean Sweeney has given da Silva the green light. And the third-year forward, who has attempted north of 70 percent of his shots from deep, is shooting 47.1 percent from 3-point range. da Silva knows his role, and he’s excelled at it thus far. Grade: B+<\/p>\n

Jamal Cain: Cain has been hit-and-miss, although he was a perfect 5-of-5 (with 13 points) in the Magic’s win Friday. I love his motor, especially as a defender and rebounder, and I hope he continues to improve as a floor spacer. Grade: C<\/p>\n

Jase Richardson: Richardson’s numbers haven’t been loud, as he’s averaging just 5.6 points and 2.2 rebounds. But he’s quietly been impactful as a spot-up shooter and connector. Richardson is shooting 45.5 percent from deep on 4.1 attempts per 75, and he’s competing defensively at the point-of-attack. Grade: B-<\/p>\n

Everyone else:\"Orlando<\/p>\n

Oct 7, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) shoots for three during the second quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Nikola Vucevic: DGoga Bitadze: DJevon Carter: FAlex Morales: Incomplete\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orlando Magic haven’t gotten off to a perfect start, but they are 2-3 after salvaging their three-game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-443850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443850","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=443850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}