ORLANDO — As the Orlando Magic sought to build on their best season in over a decade, their outside shooting stood out as the biggest factor keeping them from becoming a bona fide contender in the Eastern Conference.
Caldwell-Pope and da Silva are the only additions thus far to a Magic team that ranked among the league's worst 3-point shooting teams — 23rd in 3-point percentage, 29th in 3-point attempts per game, and last in 3s made per game. The burden to improve those numbers won't fall just on the new guys. "I think some of this is guys grow up, they get better, they find their rhythm and when you have a team as young as ours, when we talk about player development, part of developing a player is shooting," Weltman said. "They get better the longer they're in the league. It's a pretty linear chart in that respect." Both Black and Howard are 20 years old.