The treacherous portion of the Timberwolves’ schedule continues Tuesday, as Minnesota travels to Orlando, Fla., to face the resurgent Magic.

Orlando features a bevy of young star players, ranging from Paolo Banchero to Franz Wagner to … Jalen Suggs.

The St. Paul product’s emergence into that core is a positive turn in Year 3 of the 22-year-old guard’s career.

The first two years of Suggs’ career, after the guard was selected No. 5 overall in the 2021 draft, were marred by injuries and inconsistency.

Suggs started just 19 of 53 games last season. The Magic were linked to star point guard Fred VanVleet in free agency. They signed veteran guard Cole Anthony to an extension in October. Orlando selected point guard Anthony Black with the No. 6 overall pick in June.

Suggs’ place in Orlando’s long-term plans was very much in question. Frankly, when a player misses 63 games over his first two professional campaigns, it’s difficult to know if you can count on him to be a core piece.

But now, he’s irreplaceable. That transformation has been a product of offensive opportunity and a commitment to the defensive end.

Magic starting guard Markelle Fultz went down with an injury just four games into the season and only returned — in a reserve role — on Sunday against Atlanta. That led to the growth of Suggs’ responsibilities.

Suggs is averaging 10.3 shots a game, half of which come from beyond the arc. That would’ve been a frightening thought for the guard in his first two seasons, where he was woeful from distance. But Suggs has hit 40 percent of his triple tries this season, with the attempts coming in a variety of ways.

He has become a necessary spacer to provide room for Wagner, who’s an excellent cutter, and a ball-dominant, second-year star in Banchero. While an offensive liability to start his NBA career, Suggs has morphed into an asset.

But that side of the floor doesn’t begin to tell Suggs’ story.

The defensive end is where Suggs has made his presence felt. Suggs is one of the most in-your-face perimeter defenders in the NBA this season. He has used his athleticism and relentless effort to make the evenings of opposing guards a living nightmare. The guard blows up plays before they even begin by flustering the ball handler the second he crosses mid-court.

Suggs is the primary reason Orlando has improved from the 18th-best defense last season to the fourth-best defensive rating (surrendering just 111.1 points per 100 possessions) this season.

His performance on that end has drawn praise from people across the country, who have touted Suggs as a candidate to make an All-NBA defensive team this season — an honor reserved for the league’s 10 best defensive players.

The increase in defensive effort and impact stemmed from a conversation Suggs told The Ringer he had with his teammates prior to the season’s outset.

“Everybody said that that was something they needed from me,” Suggs told The Ringer in a recent longform feature. “Without hesitation, I’ll do anything the boys ask me to do. I’ll try my hardest to get it done. I knew it would lead to good things for us … taking on that challenge. And I know it’s hard, but it’s a privilege that they … believe in me.”

By now, everyone is a believer in the burgeoning young guard. His energy and passion delivers consistent highlights shared across social media platforms. He’ll hound his opposition on defense and hit the deck the moment a loose ball goes down for grabs. That bulldog mentality exemplifies the physical talents Suggs used to become a Mr. Football honoree in high school.

He has seemingly become a fan favorite among Orlando supporters and is now living up to his draft day promise and the heights that so many locally in the Twin Cities long believed the Minnehaha Academy grad would one day ascend to.

And he did it his way. It’s rare for a high pick who has long been touted as a prodigy can so quickly change course and thrive off a game based not so many off skill, but scrappiness. But for as much as he has changed, this much about Suggs has long remained true — he’s a winner, through and through, and will do whatever it takes to get the job done.

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