MANILA – The head coach of Orlando Magic in the 2023 NBA Summer League has assured that Filipino center Kai Sotto will have his minutes at some point in the competition.
According to Dylan Murphy, the 7-foot-3 Sotto will have a chance to prove his worth after not being fielded during Orlando’s 89-78 loss to Detroit Pistons last Saturday (Sunday in the Philippines).
“He’ll definitely get minutes. As for when, we’re gonna play that by ear,” Murphy said in an interview with Spin.ph’s Homer Sayson. “Everyone in the (Magic) lineup will have a chance to shine.”
Murphy and the Magic organization received heavy bashing from the Filipino fans after Sotto was curiously benched against the Pistons despite Orlando’s social media pages hyping the Filipino center almost the entire week.
Instead of trying Sotto, who was the tallest player in Orlando’s Summer League roster, Murphy went with undersized bigs D.J Wilson and Ron Baker II, who were both ineffective against the Pistons.
Sotto, for his part, clarified that he was informed by Murphy before the game started that he and five other players will not be fielded in against the Pistons as the Magic want to give opportunity to their rookie selections and contracted players first.
“Kinausap ako ng coach namin. Lima kami (na hindi kami makakalaro),” Sotto said in an interview with Sayson. “Bibigyan daw muna ng chance ‘yung mga rookies at contracted players sa first game.”
“NBA Summer League is very different (compared to Japan and Australia),” said Sotto, who is under contract with Hiroshima Dragonflies in Japan B.League. “All of the guys are just more athletic, so it’s a different game.”
Murphy, however, heaped praise on the Gilas Pilipinas big man, who the Magic coach said is doing good during their training leading to the week-long competition in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“He’s doing a really good job in our practices. Credit to him he’s got a good attitude, doing things the right way,” said Murphy, who is the head coach of NBA G League squad Osceola Magic.
Sotto’s next opportunity to play will be on Monday night (8:30 am on Tuesday in the Philippines) against the Indiana Pacers in a game that will be televised live at NBA TV Philippines./PN
