Magic President Jeff Weltman Praises Jett Howard’s ‘Great’ Rookie Season

Despite spending his rookie year with the Orlando Magic’s G-League team, the President of Basketball Operations was pleased with how Jett Howard’s season went.

Jan 19, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic guard Jett Howard (13) dribbles the ball against / Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports

ORLANDO — Sometimes, the solutions to your problems are much closer than they seem. 

And for an Orlando Magic team that desperately needs to add shooting, one of the answers to that need may come in the form of a player who spent much of his rookie season 30 minutes away. Jett Howard, who was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, played 29 games for Orlando’s G-League affiliate, the Osceola Magic, and averaged 18.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He also shot 44.7 percent from the field and averaged 3.6 3-pointers made per game on 9.5 attempts (37.7 percent).

While Howard didn’t play any significant minutes for Orlando, his play earned high praise from the Magic’s President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman.

“I think Jett had a great rookie year,” Weltman said on Monday. “It’s not going to show up to the fans who come to the Orlando games, but Jett had a great rookie year. He got so much better in a lot of areas that we had targeted when we drafted him.” 

Howard’s 3.6 3-pointers made per game would have led Orlando by a significant margin, nearly doubling Jalen Suggs, who led the team with an average of two 3-pointers. Orlando was 24th in points per game (110.5), 24th in percentage of 3-pointers made (35.2), 29th in 3-point attempts per game (31.3) and last in 3-pointers made per game (11) last season.

With Howard's growth in his first season and the Magic being positioned to add shooting this offseason via free agency or trades, Weltman noted the former first-round pick could be a part of their answer to their scoring woes from last season.   

“When we talk about the team needs shooting, Jett’s a very talented young man,” Weltman said. “He’s worked really hard, he’s expressed the humility and the drive and the work ethic to ‘it doesn’t matter where I am, I’m here to get better. I’m here so that when I’m coming to Orlando, I’m ready to help the team. So I’m really excited about the season that he had and the way that the G-League was used.”

Orlando’s patience in developing players paid huge dividends in it improving by 13 wins this season and earning the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Jalen Suggs had a breakout season in his third year, Cole Anthony and Moe Wagner have become reliable scorers off the bench and the tandem of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have become one of the best young duos in the NBA.

But now the Magic have shifted from a rebuilding franchise to one that has ascended to a playoff team, and they have the assets to make one or multiple moves that can improve them to a contender in the East. Even if Orlando chooses that path, the development of its young players will remain vital to its success, and Howard could be at the core of that next year. 

For all of the moves the Magic could make, they can’t lose sight of how their patience in developing young got them into this position. And if they remain patient and trust in Howard’s development and it pays off, he could be one of the main reasons Orlando takes another step and is among the reasons it is among Eastern Conference’s best next year. 

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