Jalen Suggs is the point guard the Magic are looking for

Already a chaotic energy defender and sparkplug 3pt shooter, Jalen Suggs continues to show development as a playmaker.

Suggs thrives launching passes in transition, hitting cutters with dimes and rollers for lobs, and playing connector making the extra pass in the halfcourt.

Against Golden State Tuesday night, Jalen Suggs missed every three he took, but found a way to impact winning elsewhere: posting a 7 AST / 3 TO ratio, racking up 2 STL + 1 BLK, holding Steph to 4/9 FG + 1 TO in their matchup.

Suggs shot lights out against the Clippers, splashing 5 threes on 56% 3P% while scoring 23 PTS on 72% TS% with 7 AST / 3 TO - 2 STL - 2 BLK - 3 REB, but once again it was also his playmaking that popped, with Jalen assisting 47% of his team's shots while he was on the floor.

I asked Jalen Suggs after his strong showing against the Clippers how he feels about his Playmaking Development since becoming the Orlando Magic's longterm answer at point guard and how he weighs risk/reward when it comes to highlight passes in tight windows.


On the passes a harlem globetrotter would be proud of, Suggs told me, "the moment you start to second guess the passes, the windows — can you get it through, can you not — more often than not they close and you miss your opportunity.”

Jalen Suggs is often finding teammates in efficient areas of the floor, hunting for the best shot for his team, giving up good looks for great ones.

These good shot passing readys by Suggs had led to him racking up a huge percentage of his assists at the rim.

Jalen Suggs ranks 9th in Rim Assists (and 60th in 3pt Assists) per 100 possessions, among players with 200+ minutes played this season, via PBP Stats.

I visualized that data visualized below:

Jalen's Per 100 Rim-Assist Rate currently rates higher than the likes of James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Ja Morant, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, Scottie Barnes, Collin Sexton, and Tyrese Maxey while rating just behind Luka Doncic, Steph Castle, Cole Anthony, LaMelo Ball, Jamal Shead and Cade Cunningham. Nikola Jokic stands alone, doubling the rate.

If Suggs keeps this up, he'd be assisting half of his teams shots at the rim while he's on the floor, and half of those assisted shots will likely be at the rim.

Orlando has found its point guard: Jalen Suggs, the efficient shot bounty hunter.