Preseason always opens a door for players trying to climb a little higher on the roster, and for the Magic, Colin Castleton and Alex Morales are two of the names worth watching.
Both are on two-way contracts, which means time will be split between Orlando and Osceola. They can be active for only 50 NBA games and are not eligible for the playoffs, but they’ll still be part of the day-to-day fabric around the organization. This season, that comes with a new wrinkle: they’re adjusting to Sean Sweeney in Orlando and Ronnie Burrell with Osceola.
Morales said the transition has been smooth.
“It’s been very easy,” Morales said recently about getting to know both Sweeney and Burrell. “They’re 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’re supposed to do. So, it’s been very smooth for the most part.”
Castleton has felt that same connection building on his end.
“Just being able to balance knowing both coaches, I’ve been able to talk with both coaches and just get to know them on a personal level.”
For Morales, this is a second shot on a two-way deal, after he didn’t sign with the Magic until mid-February last season. He only got into four NBA games, but he became a familiar presence for Osceola. Across four seasons with the G League club, he has played in 127 games and put up averages of 10.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 28.1 minutes a night.
He’s also Osceola’s all-time rebounding leader with 780, but Morales isn’t looking at that as the finish line. He wants to show he can bring the same value to the NBA stage.
“I don’t 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’m able to do the same thing at this level,” the 6-foot-6 forward said.
Castleton brings a different résumé to the table. The 6-foot-11 center, who attended Father Lopez in Daytona Beach and finished his college career at the University of Florida, has already logged 46 NBA games with the Lakers, Grizzlies, Raptors, Sixers and Magic.
He appeared in 26 of those games on multiple 10-day contracts with Toronto, Memphis and Philadelphia during the 2024-25 season, then saw his opportunities shrink last season after breaking his left thumb. Now he’s back on another two-way deal with Orlando after spending Las Vegas Summer League with the team, and staying healthy sits at the top of his list.
“This season if I’m fully healthy when an opportunity arises, I’ll be able to take advantage of that,” Castleton said.
Both players spent much of the offseason working at the AdventHealth Training Center and were among the first Magic players to get on the floor with Sweeney before the rest of the group returned. Even with the uncertainty that comes with bouncing between the NBA and G League, they’ve already made an impression on their new head coach.
“They’ve done a great job with their energy each and every day,” Sweeney said about Morales and Castleton earlier this week. “Both those guys have a dirty work mentality where they’re really trying to do the little things that help a team win, maybe some of those invisible plays that don’t necessarily show up in the box score.
“We’ve seen them put a lot of time and effort into developing on the things that we’ve asked them to get better at,” he added. “It’s been great to have them at practice each day and they’ve each shown signs of improvement.”
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