In Tristan da Silva, Orlando Magic See a Traditionally 'Old' Prospect as Ready

The NBA draft process typically favors teenagers with unknown potential rather than more seasoned college players. Yet, the Orlando Magic's selection of Tristan da Silva bucked that trend. Early results show it could work.

Mason Williams | Aug 19, 2024

Tristan da Silva is introduced after the Orlando Magic selected him in the 2024 NBA Draft. / Getty Images

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Everything about Tristan da Silva’s draft profile suggested that the Orlando Magic weren’t getting a run-of-the-mill prospect with the 18th overall pick.

Checking in at 23.1 years of age at the time of the draft, da Silva was one of just 21 players eligible to be chosen this past year who was 23 or older. That’s a byproduct of an NBA bias for drafting potential, where teams hope to develop younger, malleable athletes by getting them into an NBA building as early as possible. In the 2024 draft, the average age of the 17 players drafted before da Silva was just 20 years old.

The Magic, a team on the cusp of a win-now period and built around a core of players at similar or younger ages than da Silva, couldn’t let a player at the intersection of his talent level with his seasoning and readiness slip past them.

“We set out with our goal entering this draft to add shooting, skill, IQ, and positional size,” Jeff Weltman, the Magic’s president of basketball operations, told reporters on draft night. “To check all four of those boxes at the 18th pick is a good day’s work for us.

Orlando caught the first glimpses of da Silva’s skill set during his time at the University of Colorado. Lauded as the highest IQ prospect up for grabs, the two-time All-Pac-12 selection averaged 11.7 points on 49.3% field goal and 38.6% three-point career shooting clips. As a solid contributor in the rebounding and passing aspects of the game, his talent made him a sought-after addition where he can be plugged into nearly any system and carve out a role.

Colorado Buffaloes forward Tristan da Silva (23) celebrates a three-pointer against the Marquette Golden Eagles on Sunday, March 24, 2024, during the second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. / Joe Timmerman/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

“Even though he’s an older player, he has growth in him,” Weltman continued. “There’s a lot more untapped I think that the NBA will actually unlock in him.”

If da Silva’s performance across three games in the Summer League was any indication — granted, a small sample size — then Weltman could be correct about his suspicions.

Playing 26.8 minutes a contest, da Silva averaged 17.6 points a game on 60.7/58.8/100.0 shooting splits. Advanced metrics loved his game as well. His 82.9% true shooting was second-best throughout all of Summer League, his 28.6 PER (player efficiency rating) was eighth-best, and his 152.5 offensive rating was fifth-best.

#Magic rookie Tristan da Silva in three SL games this summer:

17.6 ppg
82.9% TS (2nd-best in SL)
28.6 PER (8th)
152.5 offensive rating (5th)

If it's any indication of what's to come, Orlando has valid reasoning to be excited about him. pic.twitter.com/gWhGpwk1Ea
— Mason Williams (@mvsonwilliams) August 19, 2024

Note: True shooting percentage is intended to more accurately determine a player’s shooting by considering field-goal, free-throw, and three-point percentages all together rather than individually. PER measures a player’s per-minute contributions adjusted for pace, where league average is 15.00. Offensive rating is a measure of how many points a team scores per 100 possessions.

Da Silva is always active off the ball, moving to open space and creating scoring opportunities either for himself or for others. During an interview with The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, while breaking down film from his time at Colorado, da Silva acknowledged that not every cut is intended for him to end up scoring. Rather, it could be to ensure offensive flow or draw defenders away from a side of the floor, spacing out the opposition.

The Magic could use better offensive flow. They have finished in the bottom 10 offensively in each of the past 12 seasons – the longest streak in the bottom 10 either offensively or defensively in 28 years of play-by-play data (nba.com).

Fortunately for Orlando, much of da Silva’s game was developed on the perimeter before hitting a growth spurt, and his 6-foot-8 frame boasts guard-like tendencies tailor-made for a league that emphasizes the need for versatility and all-around creation. To succeed around taller defenders, he had to become a smart player and pick his spots. Now, his skillset is pro-level with the desired positional size that allows him to step into a situation of importance right away.

“He makes the game a lot easier for the other four players to play,” Weltman said. “In Europe, they said point guards are organizers. He’s an organizer at a forward position.

“His ability to be connective tissue, to lift others up, is unique.”

Da Silva told Vecenie that he learned a lot from Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. during his time at Colorado, another player who thrives around a central playmaking, do-it-all hub in Nikola Jokic. While da Silva may not see the floor at the same times as Paolo Banchero or Franz Wagner, and while no one in the NBA is like Jokic, comparisons can be drawn to how da Silva’s off-ball movement and the required gravity toward him would open things up for the Magic's playmakers.

“I love playing with high-IQ, smart players,” da Silva told Vecenie.

As to how many minutes he’ll see at the onset of his career, da Silva likely slots into competition for a backup three or four role with Caleb Houstan – Orlando’s second-round pick from the 2022 draft. The Magic are guard-heavy in the second unit, with Cole Anthony, Gary Harris and Anthony Black all vying for minutes. Jonathan Isaac, Moritz Wagner and Goga Bitadze are all key rotational players in the Magic frontcourt.

With all of that in mind, da Silva’s status entering the league is uncertain when considering playing time. But among the many qualities Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley raved about during his first time publicly speaking about da Silva on draft night, the rookie’s comfort in accepting that challenge was possibly the most keen.

Tristan da Silva is introduced by Magic PBO Jeff Weltman and head coach Jamahl Mosley. / Orlando Magic

“He’s going to come in and be willing to earn whatever minutes he’s given, whatever time he’s given,” Mosley said. “There is a learning curve, and he’ll have to go through that. But being older and having the experience of playing in big games, being in the (NCAA) tournament and playing for a great coach, I think he has an understanding of what it takes to develop and keep winning habits that we’re growing with here.”

“I feel like the biggest jump that I’ve done so far was going from Europe over to the States and playing basketball over here,” da Silva said during his introductory press conference. “Back then, I talked to coach A.C. (Anthony Coleman) and head coach Tad Boyle, and the vision that they had for me and me giving them the trust to take that into their hands and work together with me was a huge step. You’re putting it into someone else’s hands and trusting them to get you to where you want to go.

“I’m kind of doing the same thing again. I’m trusting (Weltman and Mosley) and I feel like I’m a master at adapting.”

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