It seems that Kai Sotto will have a tall mountain to climb just to earn minutes with Orlando in the NBA Summer League.
The current big man of the Hiroshima Dragons was a DNP in the Magic’s 89-78 loss to Detroit on Sunday morning (Manila time) at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But it’s not just Sotto who rode the bench for Orlando as Tyger Campbell, Dexter Dennis, Amauri Hardy, Drake Jeffries, and Au’Diese Toney were also not fielded by Magic coach Dylan Murphy.
Orlando struggled to contain the duo of, Jalen Duren and James Wiseman, standing tall at 6-foot-10 and 7-feet, respectively.
Duren and Wiseman unleashed their full potential, scoring 17 and 16 points to guide the Pistons to victory. The latter also grabbed 11 boards.
Not to be outshone, Detroit’s emerging star, Jaden Ivey, put on a remarkable all-around performance, contributing 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, and five steals. Ausar Thompson, the fifth pick in the recent 2023 NBA Draft, also made his presence felt by filling up the stat sheet with seven points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
After an evenly contested first half, with the score tied at 43-all, the Magic found themselves struggling to keep pace with the Pistons in the early stages of the second half.
Falling behind by as many as 12 points, with a score of 68-56 and 8:37 remaining in the fourth quarter, Orlando faced an uphill battle to regain control of the game.
Leading the charge for Orlando, Kevon Harris displayed his scoring prowess, tallying 21 points on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting.
Anthony Black contributed 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals in the losing effort.
Sotto will hope to get playing time when Orlando faces Indiana on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. (Manila time).
