Tristan da Silva keeps firing 10-plus threes, and Sean Sweeney wants more of the right ones

ORLANDO — Oct. 14, 2026 — Three preseason games into the Sean Sweeney era, one Orlando Magic number keeps repeating: Tristan da Silva has taken at least 10 three-pointers every time he has stepped on the floor. After Tuesday’s 132-116 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Sweeney made clear he has no interest in reining that in.

Da Silva went 4-of-10 from deep in the opener at Memphis, then 4-of-11 in each of the two games against Cleveland. That is 12-of-32, or 37.5 percent, with 19, 17 and 18 points in 20 to 25 minutes a night. He started Sunday’s loss in Cleveland with Desmond Bane resting and came off the bench in the other two.

“Keep shooting” — with a condition

Asked about da Silva’s volume after Tuesday’s win, Sweeney praised the forward’s aggressiveness from beyond the arc and said he wants him to keep letting it fly when it is the right play. He also pointed past the shooting, crediting da Silva’s shot selection, defensive positioning, grasp of the team’s schemes and steady effort.

The number itself, Sweeney said, matters less than the quality of the look and the decision behind it. That lines up with how he framed Orlando’s offense after the preseason opener, when the Magic launched 45 threes against the Grizzlies.

“I think you know we talk about efficiency on the offensive end, and we want to get efficient shots. We want to get high-quality shots,” Sweeney said then. “If it happens to be 45 threes or 40-some threes, that’s awesome. But if it’s other great valued shots, and that’s awesome too.”

Why it matters in Orlando

The Magic ranked 22nd in the league in three-point attempts last season at 34.1 per game, and spacing has been the question hanging over the Paolo Banchero–Franz Wagner core for years. A rotation forward who hunts open threes without hurting the defense is exactly the kind of piece that changes the geometry around those two.

Tuesday showed what it looks like when it clicks. Orlando’s regular starting five of Banchero, Wagner, Bane, Jalen Suggs and Wendell Carter Jr. opened on a 17-8 run, the Magic finished with 34 assists, and the bench kept the margin there, with da Silva scoring 18 and Goga Bitadze adding 14.

“I loved the way the ball moved,” Sweeney said. “I thought we did a really good job of playing extremely aggressively and making every option live on offense. Then defensively, I thought we did a really good job of understanding what we were trying to get accomplished from a scheme standpoint.”

Jase Richardson finds a second speed

Second-year guard Jase Richardson, who started the first two exhibitions while Suggs was out with an illness, said the game has slowed down for him. “I think my pace has gotten a lot better from last year,” he said Wednesday at a youth clinic in Sanford. “I think last year I was stuck on one speed. I think this year I’m being a lot more patient, taking my time and switching it on and off.”

What’s next

Orlando, 2-1 in the preseason, closes its exhibition schedule Friday at 7 p.m. ET against the Miami Heat. The useful thing to watch is not whether da Silva gets to 10 attempts again, but whether those shots still come inside the offense once Sweeney tightens the rotation for opening night.

More on WhyNBA: Banchero and Wagner lead the Magic past the Cavaliers as Suggs returns.