ORLANDO — As Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs continues to recover from arthroscopic knee surgery performed in March, he was thrust into a different role during Wednesday’s round of training camp.
Instead of running a scrimmage on the court with his teammates, he was directing them.
“Jalen coached today,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Jalen was the coach today.”
Joining Suggs in his role was center Moritz Wagner, who continues his own return to the court after suffering an ACL tear last December. The goal for Mosley and the coaching staff is to keep the tandem involved while they gradually ramp up the workload.
“Those two guys that are out, they were able to go through their individual workout non-contact. But then in the scrimmage, they were able to communicate to the guys and coach the teams separately to understand what that feels like to be behind the board, to communicate with your teammates, to show the expectations of what you want to be done while you're on the floor.”
It is a cerebral exercise both Suggs and Wagner can benefit from by continuing to build chemistry with the team despite not being directly involved with the ball in their hands.
“It's huge because it talks about communicating,” Mosley added. “It keeps communication as the high priority. And so you've got to be able to communicate with your teammates the things that you see, what you want, the standard that we've set.”
By embracing this role, it allows Suggs, Wagner and anyone else on the roster to instill what needs to be executed on the floor through a different perspective.
“And I've said this to you before. I've said this a ton. that it's easy for coaches to say things, to put things on boards, to watch it on film. It becomes real when these guys can repeat it back to you and they can repeat the message of what they're calling themselves to do, calling each other up.”
Before their respective injuries, Suggs and Wagner were averaging career-high scoring marks last season. In 35 games, Suggs averaged 16.2 points, and Wagner averaged 12.9 points in 30 games.
Suggs, 24, is entering his fifth season in Orlando after the franchise drafted him out of Gonzaga with the fifth pick in the 2021 draft. Meanwhile, Wagner, 28, is entering his fifth full season with the franchise after signing with the Magic in April 2021 as a free agent after stints with the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics earlier in the season.