The Orlando Magic had Butler’s Kameron Woods in for a workout recently. The second-round prospect is another power forward the Magic appear to be targeting.
Things change and can be very fluid when it comes to Draft preparations for the Orlando Magic.
Lets anyone think Orlando is not working out any prospects or preparing for the Draft in any meaningful way, the Orlando Magic have slowly begun bringing in prospects. Whether they get out to the media is another question entirely.
The first confirmed workout for the Magic since the NBA Draft Combine ended took place earlier this week as Butler’s Kameron Woods came to Orlando for an interview and workout.
https://twitter.com/kamwoods31/status/606179772167618560
As if a tweet from the player himself was not enough confirmation, David Woods of the Indianapolis Star reported Woods did indeed interview with the Magic and the Magic did their own background research, interviewing Butler coach Chris Holtmann for about an hour last week asking about Woods.
Woods is a 6-foot-9 power forward from Butler who averaged 7.8 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per game his senior year. Woods amassed a 27.4 percent defensive rebound rate last season, good for 12th in the nation. In fact, Woods finishing in the top 32 in the nation in defensive rebound rate his final three years at Butler.
He is a superb rebounder.
However, he is still a guy that is deep on your NBA Draft boards. Woods was not invited to the NBA Draft Combine or the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. He does not even have a full profile on DraftExpress. So Woods is a way-off-the-radar player.
However, the fact the Magic brought him in is somewhat instructive. It is likely the Magic are considering him more for one of their Summer League teams or to put on Erie for the year to watch his development.
During the NBA Draft Combine, the Magic got to interview 18 players. The names we expected were on there — Trey Lyles, Justise Winslow and Frank Kaminsky. But of the second round prospects they interviewed — including Syracuse’s Chris McCullough, LSU’s Jordan Mickey, Stanford’s Anthony Brown and Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas — there was a recurring theme.
Except for Brown, who is a small forward, they were all power forwards. Woods squarely falls in that category too.
The Magic certainly could draft Kristaps Porzingis in the first round, but it seems the Magic are shopping in the Draft for a more traditional and rugged power forward for their second round pick or to add to their Summer League roster.
With Kyle O’Quinn set to hit restricted free agency, it seems the Magic are preparing to move on and are looking for his replacement. That is what the tea leaves seem to be saying.
Of course, this could be rendered moot or could be reading too much between the lines. The Magic have two Summer League rosters to fill and will have plenty of prospects to look at ahead of the Draft. The 51st pick rarely brings a player who could produce in a NBA rotation, but the Magic might be zeroing in on something.