Chuma Okeke making changes with Orlando Magic

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Chuma Okeke making changes with Orlando Magic

Published: Sep. 29, 2022, 8:07 a.m.

5-6 minutes

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As the Orlando Magic opened training camp for the 2022-23 NBA season this week, Chuma Okeke considers himself “positionless.”

That might sound like a bad thing for a player, particularly for one on a team seeking to find the combination to turn a corner it’s been trying to get to for a decade. But the former Auburn standout explained it does not mean he will not have a spot in the playing rotation. Instead, he will be available to handle a variety of roles.

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And he won’t be the only one as Orlando will rely on spacing and passing to try to get the most out of players with similar skill sets.

“I’m actually very excited for this year,” Okeke said. “I feel like we got a good group. Very versatile in all positions honestly. I’m real excited to see how the season’s going to go and see how we all fit and how we all play together, but I feel like it’ll turn out good. Just got to lock in on key things, key details and let the rest take care of itself.”

The 6-foot-6 Okeke and three 6-10 players – Paolo Banchero, Jonathan Isaac and Franz Wagner – appear the key components to a positionless approach with their ability to flow into different roles.

Banchero joined the Magic as the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The eighth player picked in the 2021 NBA Draft, Wagner made the NBA All-Rookie team last season and starred in the EuroBasket tournament this summer. The sixth pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Isaac has missed the past two seasons because of knee injuries.

They are three of the seven NBA Draft lottery selections on the Magic’s roster, and none have turned 25 years old yet. The other lottery picks are Markelle Fultz, No. 1 in 2017; Jalen Suggs, No. 5 in 2021; Mo Bamba, No. 6 in 2018; and Wendell Carter Jr., No. 7 in 2018.

Orlando’s 20-player training-camp roster has only three players older than 25, so after turning 24 last month and with two seasons of experience with the Magic, Okeke expects to serve as a team leader.

“Sometimes I do be feeling like a vet for real,” Okeke said. “I’m probably like in the middle, though. I’m not the oldest, but I’m not the youngest either. But I still feel like a vet. I’m 24 years old, and Paolo and Caleb (Houstan) are like 19, 20 years old. That sounds crazy. …

“As far as being a vet, I feel like my word will probably hold a lot of weight, being that I’ve been here for a while, so just taking that stance on the court, speaking up and talking when I need to talk but not saying too much at the same time, if that makes sense, and just having fun, because that’s really what basketball’s all about. Of course, we get paid to do it, but at the end of the day, we started doing it because it was fun for us to do and we enjoy doing it.”

While Okeke has two seasons of playing experience with Orlando, he’s been with the team for three.

Okeke had 20 points and 11 rebounds in Auburn’s 97-80 victory over North Carolina when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 game on March 29, 2019. Despite the injury, Orlando chose Okeke with the 16th choice in the NBA Draft on June 20, 2019, but he was not able to play during the 2019-20 season.

In his first season on the court, Okeke averaged 7.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks in 25.2 minutes in 45 games.

Okeke played in 70 games last season, when he averaged 8.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.6 blocks in 25.0 minutes.

Orlando posted a 22-60 record last season. The Magic has had one winning season in the past 10 – 2018-19, when Orlando went 42-40. The Magic hasn’t gotten past the first round of the playoffs since 2010.

“Just being more consistent with the little things,” Okeke said, “and just by doing that and just by me doing that, that would show big improvements just in the overall goal of what we’re trying to do, so just really tuning in on the little stuff and tightening up a little screws here and there and being more consistent.”

While Okeke is ready to see Orlando’s record change, he’s already made one change for the 2022-23 season – the pronunciation of his name.

“I just be meeting a lot of Nigerians, a lot of people from Africa,” Okeke said, “and they just be telling me, ‘No, no, this how you say your name. Your name is O-kay-kay, not O-kee-kee.’

“And I’ve been hearing that a lot since I was young since I played with a lot of Nigerians on my AAU team. But I was young, so I was like, ‘Man, my name is O-key-key.’ This is the way I’m saying it. This is the way I’m used to saying it. That’s what it is. But, no, it’s pronounced O-kay-kay, and, yeah, that’s what it is.”

The Magic tips off its five-game preseason schedule on Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Orlando starts the regular season on Oct. 19 on the road against the Detroit Pistons.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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[alexava 6,973]

He shrunk 2 inches?