ORLANDO, Fla. — When Jalen Suggs was officially introduced less than 24 hours after he was drafted No. 5 overall by the Magic in 2021, he sat in front of a set of microphones alongside fellow first-round pick Franz Wagner, new head coach Jamahl Mosley and president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman.

Mosley had only been hired by Weltman less than three weeks earlier, but there was a sense of confidence at the table.

There was hope.

There was a vision.

There was potentially a bright future ahead for the Magic franchise and everyone there, including Suggs, knew it.

“It comes with expectations being high picks like this,” Suggs said at the time. “But I’m embracing it all. I feel like we can create something special here.”

Fast forward to the present. Suggs, Wagner and Mosley — together — have the Magic back in the NBA playoffs.

Orlando’s young core, which was crafted by Weltman, is set to get its first taste of postseason basketball when it opens with a first-round matchup with the Cavaliers (48-34) at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on Saturday.

“It means the world,” Suggs said after the Magic (47-35) clinched the fifth spot in the East by beating the Bucks on Sunday, 113-88, for their most wins (47) in a regular season since 2010-11 (52). “This is such a special moment.”

Before Suggs and Wagner got to this point, however, losses were inevitable during a rebuild.

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