The Orlando Magic are finally moving from camp work to game speed, and that shift arrives with a few key pieces still on the shelf.
Their first preseason game comes with the team trying to sort out a new coaching staff, a new approach and a roster that is not yet fully healthy. Jonathan Isaac will not travel to Memphis for personal reasons, and the Magic are also likely to be without Jalen Suggs (illness), Anthony Black (sprained ankle) and Noah Penda (sore hamstring), all of whom have had limited practice availability this week.
Even with those absences, the matchup carries real value for Orlando. It is the first chance to see how the lessons of training camp hold up once the ball is live and the other team is trying to break things apart.
“We should use it as an extension of practice, working on our stuff, seeing how we match up with some of the other teams,” Wagner said after practice Tuesday. “And first and foremost, it's important to get better as a team. I think it's really important for us to use these games to make a lot of stuff smooth.”
For Wagner, the return to the floor is a meaningful one. The last time he played in an NBA game was the third quarter of Game 4, when he pulled up and limped to the bench with the Magic leading the 1-seed Detroit Pistons going into the fourth quarter.
Orlando won that game to take a 3-1 series lead, but Wagner was done for the rest of the Playoffs. The Magic then collapsed and went home early.
That ending has hung over the offseason. Wagner spent at least the early part of it rehabbing the strained calf before getting back to his normal offseason routine, and now he is ready to take the next step with the team.
The preseason opener is about much more than the score. Orlando is trying to find out how its work in camp translates when the pace changes and the corrections have to come in real time.
“We want to learn about ourselves as much as anything,” coach Sean Sweeney said after practice Tuesday. “It would be great to execute at the ultimately high level that we want.
The reality is we are going to make mistakes. It's a good opportunity to see what we did well, see what we need to do better and learn from it.
The other thing that is great too is when you make a mistake, it is not a crisis of ability, it's an opportunity to lean into how you respond.”
That’s the real divide between practice and a game. In camp, coaches can stop things, reset them and guide every detail.
In a preseason game, players have to sort it out themselves. That is where habits start to show up, and where the team’s foundation begins to take shape.
“For us, what we are looking to do is we do a good a job as we can building our base and building our foundation and then add layers to it,” Sweeney said after practice Tuesday. “I think training camp, in general, goes all the way up to the first game.
You are building toward the start of the 82 games. You take the steps as they come.
If you are ready to take another, you take it. If not, you make sure you get what you need and then take that step.”
That larger picture is still the priority. The Magic’s season opener is Oct. 21 against the Atlanta Hawks, and every part of camp has been geared toward getting there in good shape. The team has been careful with injuries and workload, trying to keep players on track for the long season ahead.
Penda is one example. He rejoined the team for practice on Tuesday after doing three-on-three work Monday, moving closer to a return while also trying to avoid any setbacks.
“I think you just have to take the statistics,” Penda said after practice Tuesday. “It's not a lot of guys who play 82 games in a season.
You've got to understand that it's also part of the game to get your body right to the maximum before the season started. Even with that, injuries happen.
You want to maximize the chances as soon as possible and live with what the game offers.”
For Orlando, the first preseason game is less about proving something than about seeing where things stand. The team is still learning the terminology, tightening the basics and building toward the point when the games count.
“The guys are ready to play against somebody else,” Sweeney said after practice on Tuesday. “The guys have done a good job with what we've asked them to do so far. You can tell they are ready to go and strap it on against some competition.”
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