KAI Sotto’s bid to become the first homegrown Filipino to make it to the National Basketball Association is still alive, but all he can hope for now is to get a two-way deal from the Orlando Magic team that selected him for its Summer League campaign.
Or, if he is dominant enough in the pre-NBA tournament for rookies and sophomores, another team can offer him a roster spot.
Sotto is the only legitimate center in the Magic’s lineup for the Summer League. The next available big man in the roster is 6’11” center/forward Robert Baker.
This, plus the fact that the Magic’s President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman confirmed that they have dropped Bol Bol, their 7’2” center, who played in 70 games last season with Orlando, fuelled hopes from his Filipino fans that the Magic could be opening up a spot for the Filipino hopeful.
Bol was originally selected in the second round as a 44th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by Miami.
But as it stands now, the Magic’s regular season roster has already been filled up, and that only two two-way contracts are the ones up for grabs.
A “two-way contract” allows developing players to simultaneously be rostered on an NBA team and its G League affiliate. Each NBA team can have three players on this type of contract.
Sotto has been working out with his Orlando Magic Summer League teammates this week at Advent Health Training Center in Orlando, Florida.
Orlando will kick off its Summer League stint on Saturday, July 8 vs. Detroit (5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN).
The 18th NBA 2K24 Summer League will feature all 30 NBA teams playing at least five games each.
Two rookies, Anthony Black and Jett Howard, the sixth and 11th overall picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, are also scheduled to play with Sotto, along with Caleb Houstan and Kevon Harris, members of last season’s Orlando team.
Dylan Murphy, newly named head coach of the Osceola Magic, Orlando’s NBA G League affiliate, will call the shots.