Orlando's Anthony Black: Sophomore Outlook

Anthony Black was a piece of a very connected, young and formidable team in the Orlando Magic this season. When given a chance to perform and showcase his skill set, it's clear that he'll become even more of an integral piece for this team for the coming years.

A top-five defense and the franchise's most winning season in well over a decade -- Black's contribution to his team as the sixth pick in last year's draft may had gotten cut a bit short despite what he had to offer, but it's also not close to the pinnacle of what he'll be able to accomplish in the NBA.

"Super proud," Black said of his elation to play with this year's Magic squad in his end-of-season interview. "It's my first year in the league, first set of teammates, it's definitely a special group for me. We always believed in what we preached back in training camp, so no surprise to our group what we were able to accomplish this year.

"But it was obviously a lot of fun, and we loved all of it."

4.6 points on 39.4% from three and 46.6% overall, 1.3 assists and 0.5 steals in 16.9 minutes across 69 games and 33 starts, a great amount of Black's impact came from his play immeasureably. With his length at 6-foot-7, the 20-year old was an excellent defender along the perimeter and disrupted ball handlers, utilizing his size to his advantage and inhibiting offenses from getting what they wanted.

There were times where he'd get taken off the dribble through, unable to tap into his strength as some attackers could out angle him, but that's just a lot of the rookie experience.

"I feel like some of my strengths are just making my teammates better and making the game easier for my teammates," Black added later in the interview. "This year was kind of [unexpected] so, didn't really get to see everything. But, I'm definitely happy to just get back into the lab this summer and get back to that creation and things like that."

As Black looks ahead to his second seaon in the league, he'll be looked upon more on both ends of the floor for Orlando. And as he appears mentally ready to be able to provide more offensively, that'll fuel him long into the summer and beyond it.

NATHAN AKER

Nathan is a senior at the University of Oklahoma majoring in Public Relations set to graduate in May 2024. He holds experience covering multiple sports, primarily basketball, at the high school and collegiate level. 

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