With the season nearing an end, the NBA All-Rookie teams were announced Tuesday. While no Orlando Magic players made either of the teams, forward Tristan da Silva received a second-place vote.
He averaged 7.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 22 minutes, providing a perimeter threat in an area where the team deeply struggled. After being selected out of Colorado with the No. 18 pick, he struggled to find a consistent role. He earned key minutes when the Magic battled injuries but returned to the bench once they were healthy.
In recent interviews, da Silva acknowledged his constantly evolving role impacted his play.
“I feel like one of them is a lot of ups and downs, a lot of unexpected turns,” da Silva said. “You never know what can happen. And that happened right off the jump, with two injuries, all of a sudden, I was playing a lot, lots of ups in that, downs in that as well. My role changed over the year. I feel like how I played changed over the year. My relationships changed over the year, with coaches, with teammates, obviously getting more comfortable with everybody around me.”
The lineup uncertainty coupled with the season getting overwhelming at times caused da Silva to hit a rookie wall.
“A whole new deal,” da Silva said. “You never played that many games before in your life, and travel that much, and been exposed to so many new things all that once. So there’s definitely at some point in the season you can call it a rookie wall.”
“You can call it ups and downs of the season,” da Silva added. “You can call it whatever you want to. There’s definitely a moment during the season where you feel tired and that can be physically, that can be mentally, I feel like the real challenge is to just digging through that and making sure that you’re coming out on the other end, and not, falling too deep into whatever It is you’re thinking, that’s what I did with the focus on work.”
