How the Magic are Trusting Jalen Suggs' QB Skillset to Assist PG in Leading Offense

Jalen Suggs' fourth NBA season is set to feature him more as an on-ball initiator – a role he's always desired. How is the Orlando Magic helping that process? By letting Suggs 'quarterback' the offense.

Mason Williams | Oct 7, 2024

Orlando Magic point guard Jalen Suggs poses for a picture during 2024 Media Day. / Orlando Magic/Twitter

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Orlando Magic

ORLANDO –– This season, Jalen Suggs is readying himself for a role he’s wanted from the moment he stepped into the league.

Drafted as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft out of Gonzaga, Suggs was an All-American guard who was given the keys to the Orlando Magic offense. That transition was far from seamless, but looking back, he’s well aware of the ups and downs he encountered over his first two seasons.

“[I] wasn’t prepared for it. I wasn’t ready for it,” Suggs said candidly at media day. “God knew that and he slowed me down through injuries, through bad times, through trials and really tested my resolve and how bad I wanted to be here.”

In year three, something changed. Suggs’ game positionally reflected that of a two-guard more so than a one-guard, and he took a much-needed leap forward on the offensive end. The defense his game always touted elevated to another level. In this previous campaign, Suggs benefitted from a healthy offseason and played 75 games, shot 40% from three and made an All-Defensive Second Team appearance.

But Orlando’s offseason signing of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a two-time NBA champion stamped with a decade-plus of experience as a three-and-D wing as a two-guard, is bringing change again to the offense. Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said Suggs will take on “a significant amount” more of the playmaking responsibilities for the team in his fourth season.

That’s an opportunity Suggs said he’s relishing, and he’s grateful to get the chance to do with Orlando.

“I want to be here. I don’t want to be anywhere else,” Suggs continued. “To have another year, another opportunity to come back and do that this summer, for me, was important.”

Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs points to a 'PW' patch on the Magic's jersey

Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs (4) poses for a photo during Media Day, pointing to a memorial ribbon bearing PW in honor of the late Pat Williams co-founder of the Magic at AdventHealth Training Center. / Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Suggs felt he’d be doing the teammates, coaches, staff and organization that he values and trusts so innately “a disservice” if he was doing less than what’s expected of him in this role. He knew going into the summer that he’d have a heavier load to carry upon his shoulders, and that served as a motivating factor for his training regimen.

At the core of his focus was his mind, body and spirit, Suggs said, which in turn helped him grow as a basketball player. Not only individually, but as a team, Suggs desires more dependability. On the floor, he honed in on his cadence and pace while cleaning up his ball handle, making it so his point guard tendencies come as second nature to the rising fourth-year guard this year.

Offensive initiation was one of the main focuses of the Magic’s first few practices of training camp. Thursday’s session in particular, the third practice of the fall, keyed in on “taking ownership of the offense,” an effort to make sure Orlando is on the same page as a collective with the ball in their hands.

The Magic’s two skilled 6-10 forwards, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, are utilized as offensive engines in the same fashion guards are elsewhere around the league. Orlando is aware that’s uncommon, but as Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said on media day, “We’re not building this thing quite conventionally.”

But trusting Suggs to be an improved initiator himself would better distribute the playmaking load from Banchero and Wagner’s duties. So, ensuring Suggs can be beneficial to the team in that regard is one of the top-of-mind aspects of not only this camp but this season.

How? By taking the former Minnehaha Academy four-star quarterback – who had offers to play football for Georgia, Ohio State and others – back to his roots. Named Minnesota’s Mr. Football in 2019, the Magic want Suggs’ ability to read defenses with a football in his hands to relay over to setting the table for Orlando’s offense.

Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs as a quarterback in high school.

Suggs was a four-star quarterback for Minnehaha Academy in Minnesota and was named the state's Mr. Football in 2019. / @jalensuggs on Instagram

“I think that’s a big portion of it,” Mosley said after Thursday’s practice. “One of our initial drills was [to] get the football out, tell me what you see as a quarterback. And he did a phenomenal job of getting guys in the right spacing, putting them in the right spots to be able to see where we have to execute on our offensive end.

“He’s grown so much… He and I sat down before practice and watched some film, watched some clips, and I just wanted to get his feel, his thoughts, because he does such a great job of explaining the game. But again, when you’re out there, him and I being on the same page and one accord, just as much as with the teammates, is going to be so important.”

Friday, Mosley noted an instance where, after a stretch of turnovers in practice, Suggs came over to him on the sidelines and explained how he can settle down the offense and get things back on track. Keeping that dialogue open and constant is a sign of their cohesiveness as a tandem.

There's a balance he’s trying to strike between not losing the off-ball elements that helped him strive forward offensively last year and growing his on-ball comfort. That’s on top of the additional film study – another facet of his summer carrying over into camp.

Asked later that same day about the feedback it's brought thus far, Suggs said he looks forward to continuing delving further into the process with Mosley – stressing that one another values the other’s perspective and thought process throughout.

Jamahl Mosley said Thursday he and #Magic guard Jalen Suggs are spending more time in the film room together to better understand how Suggs is seeing the game w/ him transitioning to more of a lead guard role.

Asked Suggs today about the feedback that’s brought so far: pic.twitter.com/BjbemUjTRp
— Mason Williams (@mvsonwilliams) October 4, 2024

He welcomes the challenges this week brought with open arms, at peace with who he is throughout his adjustment to an old role turned new again. Over the summer, he unplugged around friends and family back home in Minnesota and comes back this year with both recharged batteries and a refreshed mindset.

“Taking on something new doesn’t mean you have to be somebody new,” Suggs said. Now, after an intensive summer and the ball rolling well into camp, he’s ready for whatever comes next.

“I’ve come to love it,” Suggs said. “I’ve come to love myself, and part of loving yourself is diving deep into it – asking yourself questions that you don’t always want to answer. But in order to grow, you kind of have to.

“I’m ready to give the city, my brothers and this organization everything I have, and that’s growth for me.”

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Published Oct 6, 2024|Modified Oct 7, 2024

MASON WILLIAMS

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