The narrative around this just COMPLETELY changed...

People are missing the point about Jalen Suggs. Somehow the conversation around him has become entirely about what he needs to fix offensively, while the thing that makes him so valuable to this team is sitting right there in front of us. Suggs is one of the Magic's most impactful defensive players, and there are some pretty wild numbers that show just how unique his two-way profile is. The question isn't whether Jalen Suggs needs to improve, it's whether we're looking at his game the right way. We'll get into all that and more on today's episode of Magic Digest What's y'all are doing good. We are officially in the building for another episode of Magic Digest on the weekend, and we're going to get into some Jalen Suggs numbers that I found very interesting. But first, I want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by our good friends over at Calshi. On Calshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like traditional sports books. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. For example, speaking about Jalen Suggs, I found that there was a market for NBA players traded, and this would be before the actual trade deadline. Now, there's some pretty names high on the list, like Jimmy Butler, Michael Porter Jr., who has been reported as someone that Magic fans or people think that Magic should go get. But I looked at the market for Jalen Suggs and said, if he was traded, if you think that he would be traded before the trade deadline and you took your $25 and put it on Jalen Suggs, that could turn into $86.75 if you're feeling like that. If you think that's what needs to happen and you want to do that, go check out Calshi. Use the link in the description and pin, comment, and code DigestNBA to get $55 added to your account instantly when you trade your first $25. Want to give a big shout out to our friends over at Calshi? Go ahead and get involved. Now, speaking of Jalen Suggs, there was a moment at media day where he actually decided that he wanted to give an apology. And I have a question for you down below in the comments. Do you think Jalen Suggs owed Magic fans an apology? Drop a Y for big facts. Yes. Yes, he did. His play was terrible. He should apologize or end. No, he's good. Just come out and do better next time. And if you do not know what I'm talking about, let's just go ahead and get into it right here. For the city, I feel like I've been here so long and I've invested so much that that was just a misrepresentation of who I am and who we are. And this is a public apology because I didn't give it then, but like that, that was unacceptable. And when we talk about the standards that we want to uphold and the places we want to go and that that was not that. And so, like I said, I took that very harsh. I know a lot of us did on the squad. And truthfully, I feel like I don't think an apology was needed, but some people think, man, judging by the last time that we saw him, that his apology may be needed. And if you go to his playoff numbers and again, it was a small, simple size as they didn't make it out of the first round. But if we look at Jalen Suggs, what he did, it really was his impact on offense or lack thereof that put a bad taste on a lot of people's mouths. We're talking about 29% shooting from the field. And I'm not talking about from three. I'm talking about from the field with a 24.1% shooting from the three-point line and 41.9% efficiency overall. That was bad. Another thing that just didn't bode him well is that you're averaging 4.1 assists to three turnovers. That's a 1.37 assist to turnover ratio. And you never want to see that from your lead point guard or your lead ball handler. That is just too many turnovers. In fact, you're not, even though he did average almost two steals per game, and he's one of the best defensive guards in the game, especially on the blocks averaging 0.6 blocks per game with his small stature. You're just giving up too many points with those turnovers. You want to see your lead playmaker at a 2.5 to three, you know, or better when it comes to, you know, assist to turnover ratio. But that could be a lot of the reason why some people, and even Jalen Suggs felt he needed to give an apology. And when you asked about his role under Sean Sweeney, I think this is where Jalen Suggs will come into this season with a much more clear and defined purpose. This is what he said specifically, consistency and efficiency. Can you be consistent in the decisions you're making, the spots on the floor you're getting to, the habits you're working towards daily, and efficiency? Can we be locked in every single day? Can we stay more ready? And it really has to be about that with Jalen Suggs. This is the problem. He is miscast. I have spoke about this before. This Magic team really doesn't have a true point guard in the general sense that we looked at it back in the day. And this is more of a case of how the game has transpired with advanced analytics. These guys are really good. And the ability to play positionless basketball, which is desired, you know, the optimal thing would be to have five guys out there who can do everything. That would be perfect. It's just, this isn't a perfect world. And I think basketball still should be played with guys who are good at what they are good at. You know, to me in an ideal world, we'd have a playmaking point guard who would be the main person out there setting the table for everybody else, being able to control things when it gets out of hand. There were too many times last year when the Magic had big runs put on them and there was nobody who could go in and just stop that, slow them down, get them set and get them into a rhythm more than anything. Not so much go out there and hit buckets, but just get them into a rhythm, get them out of bad habits and get them focused. There really was nobody like that. And that is a problem for this Magic team. With Jaylen Suggs though, that is not his biggest problem. The biggest problem is that he's being asked to play a role that he is not designed for. In an ideal world, I think his impact would be more of that. I think of guys like Marcus Smart in Boston that year where he was locking everybody down. That year where he was looked at as a defensive player of the year, he's locking guys down on perimeter and he's able to play in the post against bigger guys because of the stature of his frame where he was still built. Jaylen Suggs has a little bit of that. He's not as strong and wide and thick as a Marcus Smart, but he does have a good body and he does go out there and play tough on the defensive end. It's just a little bit of the recklessness, the aggressive fouling we would love to see turned down, and just more control on the offensive end. Now, if you look at his impact, I was reading this article by Ryan Kaminski over on sportsillustrated.com and he had this to say about Jaylen Suggs. When his playmaking is on point, his decision-making is solid, and his three-point shot is on, Suggs evolves into the super connector do-it-all guard everyone knows he can be. Already a transition killer, Suggs' two-way impact comes out most with hustle plays, forcing turnovers, and making the highlight play on the break in the half court. Suggs has shown gradual development in new areas each season, and that's what I want to see him come in this year and really showcase not so much that he's going to be Chris Paul. He's never going to be the guy that's averaging 10 assists, 11 rebounds, and scoring 30 points, but what he can do is go out there and play tough defense. Be that defensive mastermind that you need on this team to anchor a top 10, possibly five defense, and then just be that much of a connector. Make the right plays. If he is running the pick and roll with Paulo, maybe doing some dribble handoffs with Franz, constantly moving so that when Paulo or Franz is trying to create, that he creates space on the opposite end to hit the open three. This has got to be where he excels this year. His defense has to be the main focal point, but he just needs to be slightly more efficient on the offensive end, and I believe the narrative will completely flip about Jalen Suggs because I think Magic fans, more than anybody, are really torn about Jalen Suggs. I think people on other teams are like, yo, this guy is good. We would love to have him, especially even with the contract that he has. Some people think he may be paid too much. I think it's a matter of the contracts on this team when you factor that in, but it's declining over the next few years, around 30 and going down, and for somebody of his stature, that's not bad at all. Now, I was watching this podcast, Slightly Biased, where they do their rankings for every team in the league, and he had Magic ranked at 13, which is much higher than other outlets. Other outlets, ESPN, the Ringer, they've had the Magic at 20, 18, as barely a play-in team, and he thinks this team is still good, and he had this to say about Jalen Suggs' numbers on a historical level that was very eye-opening. Okay, this is from the Slightly Biased podcast. He goes, okay, but again, defensively, this guy is elite, and I mean, look, guys, this is just the facts. Here are players in NBA history with 20 points per 100 possessions, nine assists per 100 possessions, three steals per 100 possessions, and one block per 100 possessions. It's Jalen Suggs, Doc Rivers, Dwyane Wade twice, and MJ. And again, these are just the numbers. No, no one is saying that he is Dwyane Wade and MJ. No one is saying that, but what he has done, his impact at the highest level is just massive, especially for this Orlando Magic team, where shooting is not the best, where they have struggled offensively, but when they were at their highest levels, they were playing outstanding defense, and he is the heart of that. This is what he brings every day, but I would love for you to tell me, what do you think about Jalen Suggs? Do you find the narrative that he's out of control, that he should be the first traded? There have been a lot of people that say, yo, we should get him out of here, give that role to Anthony Black. I'll be honest, I was one of them. At one point in the season, I was ready to make the trade Jalen Suggs, give that role to Anthony Black, and then use his salary, the trade salary, to either bring back draft capital, or maybe some more vet players who could fit different roles, and then maybe fill out some of the shooting that we were missing. But is that wrong? Is that the wrong idea? Are we looking at Jalen Suggs wrong? What do you expect from Jalen Suggs and this year going into the season? I want you to let me know down below in the comments. It's your big guy Eric, go ahead and get involved until the next time on Magic Digest.