Magic's Tristan da Silva Staying the Course Amid Ups and Downs of Rookie Year

Flash forward exactly one year later, and on March 20, 2025, da Silva is set for the Orlando Magic's 70th game of his rookie season after being drafted No. 18 overall in last summer's NBA Draft.

Having appeared in 65 contests for the Magic this season, da Silva has already more than halved his 124 career games played in a Buffalo uniform.

In the fourth-and-final college season for da Silva, the Magic's lone rookie this season, games started on Nov. 6. 2023, with a victory over Towson. Four and a half months later, the close loss to the Golden Eagles of Marquette was his 34th game that year, Colorado's 37th. Between games, da Silva was busy getting a bachelor's degree in finance from the University.

For comparison's sake, the Magic played game nine this season on Nov. 6, 2024, and when the Magic host the Los Angeles Lakers on March 24, it will be game 72 of Orlando's season.

"It's definitely different," da Silva told locker room reporters before the Magic's road trip finale at Cleveland. "It's just the frequency of the games, not necessarily how long the regular season goes, I guess, because it's only a difference of a month, really. But [we] really play every other day, so I feel like that's a big thing."

"You don't know until you get out of the season because when you're in it, you're vested in it," said Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, a fellow four-year Colorado alum and All-Big 12 forward from 1997-2001. "You're trying to find every way possible to just continue to get through and to continue to grow, and until it's over with, then you can reflect and look back and see the things that you may have done differently or where your areas of growth were."

Added Mosley: "He's a young man that will take this summer and take the time to reflect back, but as he's in this moment right now, he's just continuing to grow within these small strides, and that's what it is [in] a lot of these games."

Cleveland itself is significant for da Silva. It's where, on Nov. 1, da Silva saw his first share of non-garbage time minutes as rotations shifted because of Paolo Banchero's torn right abdominal muscle. That night, he scored 17 points with a 91.2 true shooting percentage.

The showing gave Mosley the trust to insert da Silva into Banchero's starting spot, where he stayed for 34 of the next 39 games – averaging 8.6 points in 26.8 minutes between Nov. 3 and Jan. 21.

As Banchero and Franz Wagner each returned from injuries, da Silva's role gradually diminished naturally. He's made two other spot starts, but since Jan. 23, the first-year pro has played 17.2 minutes a game. Da Silva has been scoring 5.5 games per contest since then.

"People told me this before the season started, but it's a lot of ups and downs and you've kind of got to stay the course," da Silva said. "I feel like I've done a pretty good job trying to do that with everything that was thrown my way. That's what I'm going to continue doing."

"I think he's still continuing to take that all in," Mosley said. "It's a lot for a young rookie in this situation, but he's taken it all in stride, and he continues to learn as the games go on; just understanding the speed, the intensity, the physicality of the game, but also understanding the game plan within that game."

As the postseason nears and the Magic's rotation figures to shorten, da Silva's youth – speaking in NBA terms, as he, Wagner and Jalen Suggs, the latter two being fourth-year pros, are all age 23 – may see his role shrink.

But he knows a thing or two about important games being played in March and beyond, and da Silva has been relied upon in big moments before. Whether his number is called or not, his ability to stay ready has served both him and the Magic well.

That's a boost for now and later.

"I think he's done a great job of recognizing things that are going on and he's going to continue to grow," Mosley said. "It's going to benefit him so much in the long run because he is a tireless worker, a focused young man.

"He's a professional, and I think all of those things will suit him well as we move forward."