By John Denton
June 22, 2016
ORLANDO – On the one hand, the Orlando Magic are still an incomplete team in need of talent and production from a player that could potentially be culled from Thursday night’s NBA Draft.
On the other hand, the Magic are already chock-full of young and blossoming players and seemingly the last thing they need to do is add another rookie project requiring time and minutes to transition to the NBA.
Also factoring in to Orlando’s myriad of draft dilemma on Thursday night is the Magic’s selection spot. After making a 10-victory improvement and winning 35 games this past season, Orlando will be selecting at No. 11 – a spot that is just outside of where it can nab the top prospects, but a place in the draft that still has value because of the history of success there. With those factors in mind, do the Magic look to trade out of the first round for an already established veteran player? Or do they use the No. 11 selection with which to nab a college/international player ready to contribute right away next season? Or do they fall back on the “best player available” practice and remain patient as the roster continues to blossom and mature?
Decisions, decisions, decisions – the Magic certainly have plenty of them to make before they are officially on the clock in Thursday night’s draft.
“We’ve been active in our discussions and we’ll continue to be active,” said GM Rob Hennigan, who will be making the calls on his fifth draft with the Magic. “That’s our job – to be active. I’d say that it’s highly likely that we’ll continue to have discussions up to the draft and during the draft. I just can’t say with any certainty if those talks will produce anything fruitful.”
One potential scenario for the Magic would be pairing the No. 11 pick with the non-guaranteed contract for forward Ersan Ilyasova for a veteran player from a team looking to shed salary and/or infuse youth into their roster. However, the NBA’s rising salary cap could render that option moot for the Magic.
“The positive thing is that we have players that the league values,” said Hennigan, who said he’s received “several” calls from other teams looking to acquire an Orlando asset. “This time of year, especially, you’re always having conversations, always listening and always trying to explore ways to improve your team. We’ve had several conversations and we’ll continue to have those conversations (Wednesday) and (Thursday).”
Over the past four years, the Magic have stockpiled a bevy of young talent from the draft in the form of Victor Oladipo (No. 2 pick in 2013), Aaron Gordon (No. 4 pick in 2014), Elfrid Payton (draft-day trade in 2014), Mario Hezonja (No. 5 pick in 2015), Andrew Nicholson (No. 19 pick in 2012) and Devyn Marble (draft-day trade in 2014). That glut of young talent, combined for franchise fixtures in Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier, has the Magic seeking ways to add more veteran leadership instead of more young draftees.
New coach Frank Vogel, who was hired in May to replace the departed Scott Skiles, feels that acquiring more of a veteran presence could help the Magic reach the playoffs next spring.
“I think that’s something that we’ll look to add – some experience with this young core that we have,” said Vogel, who has been involved in the workouts and film study of potential draft players over the past three weeks. “I don’t know how that (intent to add experience) affects what direction that Rob wants to go with the draft pick, but that’s something I’ll defer to him on.”
If the Magic resist the temptation to trade their pick and they indeed draft at No. 11, history shows that some stellar players can be found at that spot in the draft. Vogel, who spent the previous 5 1/2 seasons as Indiana’s head coach, knows that full well after the Pacers had success with last season’s No. 11 pick by nabbing promising center Myles Turner. Indiana Hall of Famer, Reggie Miller, is the most illustrious No. 11 pick of all-time. More recently, Golden State star Klay Thompson was the No. 11 pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.
The Magic have also found great success and pain with No. 11 picks in the past. Nick Anderson, the first player ever drafted by the franchise and a member of the Magic Hall of Fame, went No. 11 in 1989. J.J. Redick, a member of the 2009 NBA Finals team and one of the most popular players in Orlando history, was a No. 11 pick in 2006. A year earlier, Fran Vazquez, was picked at No. 11 by Orlando, but he never played a game for the Magic when he chose to remain in Spain and play basketball there.
Some of the possibilities at No. 11 for the Magic: Cal forward Jaylen Brown, Kentucky power forward/center Skal Labissiere, Utah big man Jacob Poeltl and Marquette center Henry Ellenson. According to ESPN’s draft projections, Poeltl has the lowest “bust” potential of any college player in the last five draft classes. ESPN draft analyst Jay Bilas isn’t quite sure what to make of the intriguing potential of a thin big man such as Labissiere.
“I think he’s the most difficult prospect to figure out in this whole draft for me because he’s got some really solid selling points,” Bilas said of Labissiere. “He’s got an excellent shooting touch. His timing is good. He can block shots. But he didn’t do it in games, and he got pushed around by guys that got pushed around by other people. That was a little bit surprising to me, frankly.
“He’s a gamble. He didn’t show the ability to handle physicality, and, frankly, yet you questioned his toughness after the season,” Bilas continued. “He showed flashes, but he’s got some potential. I think that he’s going one on none in all these workouts, and you can see the talent, but he’s going to have to play in a crowd, and he hasn’t shown really that he can do that yet. That’s where the gamble comes in. But in the middle of the first round, I think he’s worth taking a risk on.”
There will be minimal risk for Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Lakers, who have reportedly already informed LSU forward Ben Simmons and Duke forward Brandon Ingram that they will be the No. 1 and No. 2 picks, respectively.
After that, anything could happen on a night where there could be plenty of transitions because of the number of teams with loads of draft picks. Boston, which owns the No. 3 spot, has eight picks in all. The Celtics, along with the Sixers (No. 1), Phoenix Suns (No. 4) and the Denver Nuggets (No. 7), all have three first-round picks. Toronto, a finalist in the Eastern Conference this season, has two first-round picks.
Hennigan believes that there is enough depth in the draft for the Magic to find a serviceable player with the No. 11 slot. Orlando also picks No. 41 and No. 47 and is hopeful that it can cull a player there who can crack the rotation in time.
“We like the draft, but it’s always hard to say with certainty how deep a draft is or strong a draft is,” Hennigan said. “We see this draft as having some pretty-good depth. When you try to calculate how good it is you often don’t have that answer for a few years after, but we like the draft (talent). We feel like there’s a lot of parity in the draft and we’ll be able to find a player who will be able to help, crack the rotation and hopefully even more than that.”
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