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Mo Bamba will be on the court in Vegas this summer. Markelle Fultz will not.
The Orlando Magic have released their roster for the NBA Summer League, which will begin on July 5 at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. Bamba, who suffered a season-ending stress fracture in his leg during his rookie season, will be the summertime face of the franchise for the Magic.
RELEASE: Orlando Magic roster for MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2019#PureMagic pic.twitter.com/lGHuwlCBFi
— Orlando Magic PR (@Magic_PR) June 25, 2019
We last saw Bamba on the court for game action in late-January. Limited to 47 games and 16.3 minutes per as a rookie, Bamba’s per-36 minute averages worked out to 13.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks. As he did last year during Summer League, Bamba will likely play limited minutes. Adding to the intrigue of Bamba’s return and overall health and development is that fellow Magic centers Nikola Vucevic (unrestricted free agent) and Khem Birch (restricted free agent) are set to test the market as free agency gets underway in the days leading up to Summer League.
Conspicuously absent from the roster is Fultz, who remains without a publicly announced timetable for his return to the court. Magic General Manager John Hammond had told 96.9 The Game on Monday that Fultz would not play at all in Summer League, so it came as no surprise. But it does come as a disappointment since Summer League seemed an ideal place for Fultz to gauge where he is in his rehab process. And he is looking pretty good on Snapchat (Note: It was pointed out in the comments below that the footage Fultz posted was not recent).
Markelle Fultz (@MarkelleF) uploaded some highlights on Snapchat of him dribbling and making fancy layups pic.twitter.com/9eQelWhafl
— Be Magic Or Be Gone! (@BeORLMagic) June 24, 2019
Also noticeably absent is Isaiah Briscoe, a standout both during Summer League last season and in the regular season when he assumed the back-up point guard role. Briscoe’s season was cut short after tearing the meniscus in his right knee and he was eventually cut by the Magic to make room for Michael Carter-Williams. With the Magic’s point guard depth chart still to be determined for the 2019-2020 season, it would have been nice to see Briscoe back on the court, assuming he is healthy enough to do so at this stage.
Per a source: Orlando hopes to re-sign Isaiah Briscoe this summer, but they feared he would not be ready for the playoffs. They didn't want to be caught in the playoffs with just two healthy PGs, thus they waived Briscoe and kept Jerian Grant. Magic remain very high on Briscoe.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) April 4, 2019
Orlando’s 2018 second round pick Melvin Frazier Jr. will also miss Summer League after recently having surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right tibia. The Magic won’t have a 2019 NBA Draft representative on display in Summer League, with their first round pick Chuma Okeke recovering from a torn ACL and their second round pick having been traded to the Lakers. Looking forward to seeing DaQuan Jefferies, who went undrafted after leading Tulsa in scoring at 13.8 points per.
Six members of the Lakeland Magic will also be on the squad. That includes Braian Angola-Rodas, Devin Davis, Jeremiah Hill, Amile Jefferson, John Petrucelli and Gabe York.
Local products include UCF’s Chad Brown and B.J. Taylor.
The Magic, who will be coached by Orlando assistant coach Pat Delany, kick off the 11-day tournament on July 5 against the San Antonio Spurs at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on NBA TV.