Tristan da Silva had to find his footing with the Orlando Magic when he first started his NBA career. The young forward was a composed player during his four years in college, playing for Colorado. However, that did not translate immediately into the professional setting.
In his first month in the league, he played one game and didn't score. By the sixth game for the Magic in the 2024-25 season, da Silva played the second game of his career and scored 17 points. He played well, despite the 120-109 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
However, he struggled shooting the ball in the next five games. The rookie forward shot 32.4% of his field goals during that stretch before another respectable outing.
Tristan de Silva
Orlando Magic forward Tristan da Silva dribbles against Atlanta Hawks guard Terance Mann.
Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Throughout his rookie campaign, da Silva experienced ups and downs. On Saturday, the first-year forward was interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel's Jason Beede. He got a chance to reflect on how his rookie season went.
“You never know what can happen, and that happened right off the jump,” da Silva said. “All of a sudden, I was playing a lot.
“There’s a lot of ups and downs, a lot of unexpected turns.
Da Silva explained that the amount of games he was exposed to caused him to get tired physically and mentally.
"So at some point in the season — you can call it a rookie wall or whatever you want — there’s definitely a moment during the season where you feel tired physically and mentally, and the real challenge is digging through that and making sure that you’re coming out on the other end.”
The 23-year-old had a lot of chances on the floor and played 74 games in his rookie season, including 38 starts. He averaged 7.2 points and 3.3 rebounds on 41.2% shooting. His best month was December, when da Silva averaged 10.1 points and 3.5 rebounds on 45.5% shooting. The 6-foot-8 forward played 13 games during that stretch, and Orlando had a 6-7 record.