Magic Targeting Opening Day Return For Jalen Suggs

The Orlando Magic are targeting opening night for Jalen Suggs to make his regular season return to the court, according to president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman.

Jalen Suggs Suffered Left Knee Injury In January

Suggs, who is recovering from a left knee trochlea cartilage tear, last played for Orlando on Jan. 25 and it was his lone appearance after Jan. 3. The former first-rounder appeared in a career-low 35 games last season.

“There’s still a long way to go before we get there, but he’s worked really hard,” Weltman said about Suggs during the team’s media day Monday at the AdventHealth Training Center.

“He’s made a lot of progress, he’s in an incredible mind space, and he’ll be a participant in whatever parts of training camp [high performance director] Arnie [Kander] deems.”

Jalen Suggs pic.twitter.com/tEKt0I9cq0

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“Through that, we’ll remain targeting opening day, and we’ll remain hopeful that becomes available to him and if not, somewhere right around there,” Weltman said.

The 6-foot-5 Suggs said he originally had in mind to be ready for the start of training camp, which opens Tuesday, but the plan now is for him to ramp up throughout camp, Weltman added.

At the moment, the goal is for him to appear in at least one of Orlando’s four preseason games before opening night on Oct. 22 at Kia Center against the Miami Heat.

Moe Wagner Expected To Miss First Half Of 2025-26 Season

However, backup center Moe Wagner, who is recovering from a torn left ACL, will remain sidelined. The 6-foot-11 big man suffered the left knee injury in late-December before undergoing surgery in early January.

“Moe’s timeline is different,” Weltman said. “He’s further away. You guys know there’ve been unfortunately a series of ACLs in the last decade of the NBA and an associated timeline with that.

“But you guys also know Moe Wagner. So, he’s not your normal guy. He’s attacking it, and we’re hopeful he can beat that timeline. What that looks like exactly is too soon to say.”

Wagner scored in double figures 23 times in the 2024-25 season, including a career-high 32 points in 25 minutes off the bench in a 100-91 home loss to the New York Knicks on Dec. 15.

Per Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel, Wagner said he’s working to get back in shape instead of rehabbing the injury itself now more than nine months removed from surgery.

In July, Wager agreed to a one-year, $5 million deal to return to the Magic.