Jan 16, 2012; Springfield, MA, USA; Chicago Simeon Wolverines forward Jabari Parker (22) holds the ball while being guarded by Findlay Pilots forward Winston Shepard (right) during the first half at Blake Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
As the season winds down to the latter stages of the schedule, the Orlando Magic are in prime postion to have a lottery pick this year. However this year’s class may have one of the deepest pools of NBA talent, it lacks any sort of star potential. That being said, the Orlando Magic will struggle to post a significantly better season versus their current clip of 18-48, a 0.273 winning percentage.
The Orlando Magic franchise has talent at the center and power forward position for the future in Nikola Vucevic and Andrew Nicholson. These two can make for an above average tandem, that can compete with the best of bigs day-in and day-out. Glen Davis and Tobias Harris are also quality NBA players that can really give the Magic depth in the front court, so let’s just put it at the Magic don’t need to make any sort of transaction for the their big men.
Wingmen wise, it’s a different story. Jameer Nelson is most certainly not going to be on the team next year, as the Magic try to build upon their new chapter of going young. The former all-star will probably walk in free agency, so that leaves the Magic with questions at the point. So it’s evident if Oklahoma State’s electrifying point guard is still on the board, the Magic must obtain him, maybe even trade-up.
Shooting guard wise, the Magic can wait another year to resolve that issue. Arron Afflalo has played great this year and he was the cornerstone piece for them in the Dwight Howard deal. Afflalo is averaging 16.9 points per game this season and has been the Magic’s leading scorer. I see no reason why they would draft a shooting guard in this upcoming draft class such as Ben McLemore.
People still forget that Turkish Jordan, Hedo Turkoglu, is still on the roster. The Magic have no use for him and it’s likely that his NBA career is at its twilight. Moe Harkless is a quality NBA player with some potential to become a good starter in the league, but his future is still up in the air. I see the Magic improving at the small forward position in the 2014 draft.
Luckily if there is one position that is stuck with star quality in the draft it is the small forward position. Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, Noah Vonleh and Julius Randle. Wiggins and Parker are pretty much guarantees to be stars in the NBA. They both are explosive offensively and they have excellent size to go up against the Association’s best small forwards.
Comparing the two. Wiggins is the much more establish scorer and has greater upside than Parker because of his superior athletic ability. However Parker is more NBA ready and has more intangibles that make him a much better asset for any NBA team. Let’s not forget, Parker is heading to Duke, and if there is anyone that can maximize any player’s potential, it would have to be Coach K.
If the Magic were to draft any of the two, expect much better scoring contribution versus Harkless. Also, the one overlooked aspect of the two big names of the 2014 draft, is that they are both marketable players that already have a lot of hype. What the Magic need as a business is to have a big name player that would make fans want to come to watch a game at Amway.
Since the departure of Dwight Howard, I think the average NBA fan, not me of course, would find it hard to name at least three players on the team. Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins are both quality players that really have stirred up a lot of college junkies and basketball fanatics to think that the next college basketball season will be fun to watch with the dynamic plays of the stellar wingmen.
That being said, the Magic can get an All-NBA player if they take either two in the draft and get a star to have fans forget about Dwight Howard. Who knows, maybe they might get a championship before Dwight. No offense Dan Gilbert.