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NBA Draft: Potential Lottery option Ivan Rabb returns to California

By Philip Rossman-Reich

March 18, 2016; Spokane , WA, USA; California Golden Bears forward Ivan Rabb (1) controls the ball against Hawaii Rainbow Warriors guard Sai Tummala (12) during the first half of the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
March 18, 2016; Spokane , WA, USA; California Golden Bears forward Ivan Rabb (1) controls the ball against Hawaii Rainbow Warriors guard Sai Tummala (12) during the first half of the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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California power forward Ivan Rabb elected to return to school rather than remain in the NBA Draft. He would have been a player the Orlando Magic looked at.

The Orlando Magic will turn most of their attention to the NBA Draft now as the next big date on the calendar. They do not quite know where they will be picking yet, but odds are they will have the 11th pick — seeing as they have only a 2.9 percent to land in the top three during the May 17 NBA Draft Lottery.

The NBA Draft Combine will take place in Chicago on May 11-15. That will mark the first time the Magic and other NBA teams will be able to sit down with potential draftees and get their measurements. The work for the Draft has already begun but will hit overdrive in a few more weeks.

What will happen now is names will begin to get winnowed out as they pull out of the draft thanks to a later deadline to withdraw from the Draft.

The consensus with this NBA Draft is that it is very top heavy with Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram headlining. Then there are a few players with star potential but looking largely like solid role players. By the time the Magic pick, there will be a lot of freshman bigs who need further development and growth.

A look at early mock drafts from around the Web saw the Magic having a wide array of young big men. Jakob Poeltl of Utah, Domantas Sabonis of Gonzaga, Skal Labissiere of Kentucky, Ivan Rabb of California, senior Brice Johnson of North Carolina and Deyonta Davis of Michigan State have been among the names floated for about that region of the draft. Guards like Demetrius Jackson of Notre Dame and Timothe Luwawu along with power forward Henry Ellenson of Marquette will be around that area too.

There will be a lot of sorting and movement to go before getting to the point where anyone can definitively say who will be available at the Draft for the Magic to select — or potentially who other teams might be interested in for the Magic to shop that pick around.

More of those players will assuredly pull out of the draft. A big name the Magic may have been looking at withdrew his name from the Draft on Sunday.

California’s Ivan Rabb will not enter the NBA Draft this year and will return to Berkley. That removes a potential name for a late-lottery team like the Magic to select.

Rabb was the fifth best high school prospect of last year’s freshman class and averaged 12.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in 28.7 minutes per game. He recorded 12 double doubles for the Golden Bears in his freshman year.

Rabb was slotted to go No. 14 in DraftExpress’ latest mock draft.

He was not a featured player within the offense, but showed in his freshman year a lot of physical tools and flashes to make everyone believe he can be a NBA player down the road. He got outmuscled by more experienced post players as young players usually do and had limited range out side the paint. But he could be a very good player.

Another year of seasoning would do him well to refine his skills and learn how to do more than be the tallest, most athletic big on the court. There is no doubt he would have been a lottery pick if he stayed in and could have developed those skills. The college environment may be better for him though.

The Magic will have their options with the Draft too. Assuming they pick at No. 11, there are several promising young players to look into. Orlando will have to do its homework.

But the sense is the Magic are desperate to make the Playoffs. In the last two drafts, the Magic have used their first round pick on development projects. Both Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja were not ready to make immediate contributions when they entered the Draft. They were picked on their potential.

The smart money is the Magic will not take another project. Judging by the players that are seemingly available to them, the options are very limited to get a rookie who can contribute pretty quickly.

Many of the players expected in their range are freshman projects. Orlando will likely be shopping the pick around and looking at every option to improve the team.

Next: How high is Mario Hezonja's upside?

That process — this whole Draft process — is likely well underway but still in its initial stages. One player the Magic certainly could have been looking at will return to school though.