No one would excuse Orlando Magic fans for not paying as much attention to the NBA Draft.
It is widely considered a poor class, especially at the top. So this isn’t a draft class that has gotten a lot of attention, even among NBA fans. On top of that, many of the top prospects don’t come from college football. The NCAA Tournament doesn’t even really promise to showcase top prospects one last time and build hype for the NBA Draft.
All of this makes NBA fans a little less excited about the NCAA tournament and the upcoming draft class.
Magic fans certainly don’t pay much attention to the Draft either. For the first time in over a decade, the Magic feel very little risk of landing in the Lottery this year. They occupy a fairly assured place among the top eight in the Eastern Conference. And while the Play-In tournament is still a possibility, the Magic feel pretty good about their playoff positioning.
Add this pick and this rookie #11 Jett Howard spent most of the year with the Osceola Magic In the G-League and the Orlando Magic are expected to have deeper playoff aspirations next year, a rookie may not be what the team needs.
Even if the Magic aren’t exhausted by introducing another young player to the roster, the team has enough room to chase after big-name players or absorb players in a trade and their draft pick (currently scheduled for land at 19th or 19th place). 20) could easily serve as material for an exchange.
Of course, there are still valuable players available in the Draft. And the team isn’t in a position to pass up an opportunity to add talented players, even if their priorities have changed.
Orlando is having a successful season this year. We cannot deny it. But the roster is certainly not complete yet. For the Magic to get where they want to go – competing for a championship – it will take a lot of internal growth, but also clearly some additions to the roster.
The Magic’s needs are abundantly clear. First and foremost, they need to draw out and consolidate many other parts of their roster.
As Friday’s loss to the New York Knicks proved it, the team will have to move up a level to compete in the Playoffs. These games will further reveal where the cracks are in the roster and how they can overcome them.
Perhaps this is why it is more difficult to identify exactly what the Magic need this offseason — whether it’s free agency, trades or the draft — and why the Magic may have chosen to wait until the trade deadline to see how the team performed in the playoffs.
The project seems to be an afterthought in this process. But it remains important.
Since most of us are probably behind in our draft preparation and the conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament will resume this week, marking the end of the college basketball season and this phase of draft preparation , it was time to catch up.
I chatted with Locked on NBA Big Board’s Richard Stayman last week to get an introduction to the draft class and talk about how the Magic should approach this year’s draft.
He explains what the Magic need and his season so far and which draft prospects will suit the Magic as the draft enters this final phase of play.
In this article, we’ll break down the names to know as the conference tournaments begin and the NCAA Tournament looms on the horizon. We’ll address the Magic’s needs and take stock of their recruits in a future article.
This interview has been edited for clarity, context and updated statistics.
