NBA Draft Combine: Orlando Magic won’t interview Stanley Johnson, meet with 2nd round prospects
The Orlando Magic were not one of the teams selected to interview Stanley Johnson at the NBA Draft Combine. They did get to work on some 2nd round prospects.
The Orlando Magic were not one of the teams selected to interview Stanley Johnson at this year’s NBA Draft Combine, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The Magic won't be interviewing Stanley Johnson in Chicago, Johnson said. That's likely because the NBA makes the assignments.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) May 13, 2015
The interview part of the NBA Draft Combine, taking place right now in Chicago, allows for teams to spend up to 30 minutes with 18 of the prospects in attendance. This however does not mean you will get to interview all the players you want to talk to.
So in a largely clerical move, the Magic are missing out on their chance to speak with Johnson this time around. It is expected the Magic will bring the potential top-10 pick to Orlando for a workout and interview as they consider whether to spend their first round lottery pick on the heralded freshman from Arizona.
For a good chunk of the season, mock drafts had the Magic slotted to take the defensive-minded small forward from Arizona. This season, he averaged 13.8 points per game on 44.6 percent shooting as a freshman at Arizona. He made his name on the defensive end where his size and physicality wore on college players.
In anthropometric measuring taking place at the Combine, Johnson measured in at 6-foot-6.5 in shoes and 241.8 pounds with 7.50 percent body fat. Johnson recorded an 8-foot-6 standing reach and a 6-foot-11.5 wingspan.
He certainly appears to have the physical tools. Only an inconsistent offensive game has him lower on some draft boards. He will have a chance in individual workouts to show any improvements as he will not participate in Thursday’s drills or 5-on-5.
Really, no top prospects are participating in that portion of the Combine.
It has not been reported yet, but the Magic are expected to interview top prospects Justise Winslow and Willie Cauley-Stein at the Draft Combine — two more players the Magic will surely consider selecting.
Orlando though also is spending the time getting to know the second round prospects or potential Summer League, undrafted free agents or D-League prospects coming out of this Draft class. Orlando holds the 51st pick in the Draft at the moment.
Orlando likely conducted a full slate of interviews Wednesday night.
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports the team interviewed Stanford’s Anthony Brown.
One of the Magic's interviews today at the NBA Draft Combine was with Anthony Brown of Stanford.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) May 13, 2015
Brown is a 6-foot-6 senior guard who averaged 14.8 points per game while shooting 44.1 percent from beyond the arc his senior year last season. Brown is not just exclusively a shooter, grabbing 6.9 rebounds per game for the Cardinal. His 3-point field goal percentage is better than his overall field goal percentage, so shooting certainly appears to be his forte.
Brown is slated to go No. 36 in Draft Express’ latest Mock Draft. To acquire him, the Magic might have to trade up early in the second round.
Brown, of course, played head to head against Stanley Johnson as Pac-12 opponents.
Additionally, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer also reported the Magic interviewed Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas.
Rakeem Christmas interviewed with the #MilwaukeeBucks, #OrlandoMagic and #PhoenixSuns today ... pic.twitter.com/v1RoB3NIGl
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) May 13, 2015
Christmas is a 6-foot-9 senior forward who averaged 17.5 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game as the Orange’s top post player. He is a bit undersized to play center in the NBA and so will have to extend his range some to succeed in the NBA.
He is projected to go No. 56 in Draft Express’ mock draft, so he would be within the range the Magic are picking in the second round if this is the direction they wish to go. Christmas came in with the second longest wing span at the Combine with a 7-foot-5.25 wingspan and a 9-foot-2.5 standing reach. That certainly should alleviate some concern about him sliding in more at power forward rather than center in the NBA.
He will be someone to watch when the 5-on-5 scrimmages begin at the Combine.
He was a bit of a disappointment at Syracuse, but Christmas clearly has some physical tools that intrigue NBA scouts willing to take a second-round flyer on him. The Magic certainly wanted the chance to talk to him.
The most important thing to remember when you look at these interviews is that the teams are largely still gathering information and getting to know these players as people to see if they are a good fit with the organization. It is not really a statement of a desire to draft.
The Magic are, after all, not interviewing one of the players they surely wanted to talk to most at the Combine.
This is an important first step. The Magic are really digging into the Draft process right now with the Lottery coming up a week away.
These interviews are an important part to that process.