The Magic Insider

Tristan da Silva's scalable scoring versatility makes him prime for a leap

Orlando Magic forward highly impactful in his role this season
Ryan Kaminski|
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Orlando Magic

When Tristan da Silva was drafted 18th overall by the Orlando Magic, the team knew it was getting a versatile scorer with promising shooting indicators.

Did they know how quickly his game would translate to the swish army knife they know have on their hands?

I scouted da Silva's Colorado games and stats, creating this scouting report after the selection:

My Scouting Report on Tristan da Silva (Colorado)

6'8" F Tristan Da Silva, Orlando's 18th pick, complements the Magic's frontcourt.

The 2x All-Pac 12 forward averaged a box score of 16p-5r-1s 2.4/1.8 A/TO.

Da Silva uses anticipation, timing, and excellent relocation skills to cut through open gaps and find open spots on the floor, bringing shooting gravity along with him everywhere he goes.

Tall Versatile Scorer with Good Development Indicators
– Touch, FT%, 3PA, Anticipation, Timing, Relocation, Ball+Body Control

Efficiency in over 1.0 PPP in 6 playtypes as a Junior and 5 as a senior
– 3P%, DHOs, Spotups, Postups, P&R, ISO, Cuts

Shooting indicators:
Senior: 84% FT% on 3 FTA - 40% 3P% on 5 3PA
Career: 79% on 2 FTA - 39% 3P% on 3 3PA - 55% 6 2PA at Colorado over 124 college games, improving TS% each season up to 61% and impressive two-way impact of 7.1 BPM in final two years.

Trisrtann da Silva has shown elite efficiency in Handoffs and Spot Ups, showing the ability to catch and shoot from standstill and in motion running around screens.

Tristan has also shown the ability to score initiating the offense with and without a screen, from P&R to Postups ISOs, looking to attack the rack and decelerate for graceful finishes at the rim

Tristan da Silva has a go-to backdown baseline fadeaway move when he finds a mismatch in the post through a backdown or rim-roll counter-measure.

da Silva uses soft touch and a wide variety of finishing moves in the paint to create a good open look for himself, hitting finger rolls, floaters, hooks, and fadeaways from many spots below the arc.

Overall, da Silva is a versatile scorer with impressive length and timing, understanding the game well to anticipate help-side blocks and jump gaps for loose ball steals, with the dribble-pass-shoot skills necessary to attack closeouts and score effectively in a variety of playtypes.

For Orlando, da Silva could be a complemantary third forward behind its young stars, a floor-stretching play finisher next to them who can plug and play as a scoring option in any lineup.

The defensive development will decide if da Silva can be a longterm starter, because Tristan’s offensive skillset impresses across the board.

Tristan da Silva's Longterm Potential

Tristan da Silva has lived up to the hype, and then some.

The Magic forward is one of Orlando's premier perimeter shooters; da Silva leads the entire team with 3.9 catch-and-shoot 3PT attempts per game and ranks 3rd in C&S 3pt efficiency. (41% 3P%)

Tristan da Silva scores instantly on cuts, T-2nd most efficient with Franz Wagner in Cuts PPP, riight behind Carter and Bitadze.

Add in da Silva's ability to attack closeouts with sound ball control, tough finishing at the rim, and connective passing off the drive, Tristan rounds out all-around offensive impact in his role.

Coming off 22 PTS - 9 REB - 5 3PM against the Nets, I asked Tristan da Silva about his development on the ball and role scalability for this team while highlighting his developing on-ball skills.

With the Magic expecting Paolo Banchero out for a short time, playing it safe recovering from a groin injury, Orlando could see what it has in Tristan da Silva with a bigger role, more playing time, and opportunity to close games when he's feeling it as a scorer.

Tristan da Silva has scored 15+ PTS in 6 games and drilled 3 three-pointers in 6 games.

While da Silva's defensive intensity and impact against opposing stars remains the biggest question left about his game, Tristan's shown a keen sense for jumping passing lanes for steals, forcing turnovers and pushing the pace into 4-5pt swings.

How good could da Silva become? The only answer is playing him more to find out.

Between Tristan da Silva's all-around skill-set, scoring versatility, shooting touch, connective passing, and the ball control handles, da Silva could become one of the most versatile seamless scorers in the league.

Published
Ryan Kaminski
RYAN KAMINSKI

Ryan is a basketball scout data analyst who has been covering the Orlando Magic, NBA, and NBA Draft with a focus on roster building strategy, data analytics, film breakdowns, and player development since 2017. He is credentialed media for the Orlando Magic along with top high schools in Central Florida where he scouts talent in marquee matchups at Montverde Academy, IMG Academy, Oak Ridge, and the NBPA Top-100 Camp. He generates basketball data visualizations, formerly with The BBall Index. He has two B.A.s from Florida State University in Business Management and Business Marketing. Twitter/YouTube/Substack: @BeyondTheRK

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