It didn’t take long for the Orlando Magic and Tristan da Silva to connect.
A pre-draft dinner with the Magic general manager Anthony Parker and President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman helped da Silva realize that he wanted to play for this organization. On Wednesday, Orlando took him with the No. 18 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
“For my dinner interview, Jeff and Anthony told me that usually, those interviews go maybe like an hour, hour-and-a-half,” da Silva said. “We were sitting there for two-and-a-half hours and we could have sat there for another two-and-a-half [hours]. I felt like with the people I was clicking right away and it felt like the organization you want to be a part of.”
Weltman and his staff set out to add a player who could shoot, had skill and IQ, and brought positional size. In da Silva, Weltman believes he checked all of the boxes for an Orlando team that’s coming off its first playoff appearance since 2020.
“Tristan is a very unique player,” Weltman said. “He’s exceptionally skilled. He’s one of the highest-IQ players in this draft and maybe in a lot of drafts recently. His shooting will open the floor up, his skill level will create angles, he’s great off the ball, and we had a lot of experience with him in our visits. We met with him in Chicago, we had a great visit here, and we’re just very excited to add him to our team.”
da Silva, 23, played four seasons for the Colorado Buffaloes and was a three-year starter. In his senior season, the 6-foot-8 forward averaged 16 points and shot 39.5 percent on his 3-point attempts. da Silva earned All-Pac 12 honors twice and made the conference’s All-Tournament team.
da Silva scored at least 20 points in nine games and was efficient from beyond the arc, shooting better than 40 percent in 18 games. The German forward’s ability to shoot could be a boon for an Orlando team that ranked 23rd in 3-point percentage and last in 3-pointers made per game.
“I believe he’s gonna come in and be willing to earn whatever minutes [are] given [and] whatever time he’s given,” Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said. “There is a learning curve. He’ll have to go through that, but being older and the experience of playing in big games [and] being in the tournament and playing for a great coach, I think he has an understanding of what it takes to develop and keep winning habits.”
Colorado reached the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Across the three tournament games, da Silva averaged 18 points and made 56.3 percent of his 3s.
The next stop in da Silva’s basketball journey is Orlando with a basketball team on the rise.
“Unbelievable amount of gratitude and pure joy,” da Silva said. “Some relief in there too came in with a lot of people out of Germany, so I feel like it’s also fun for them to see my journey and taking them along that journey with me is huge.”
Round two of the NBA Draft begins at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday. Orlando holds the No. 47 overall pick.
