2016 Final Four NBA Mock Draft Roundup

The Orlando Magic are looking at another Lottery pick. With the Final Four taking place, we took a look at the NBA Mock Drafts and who might come to Orlando.

Tonight, the basketball world will turn its attention to Houston and NRG Stadium for the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four. Oklahoma will take on Villanova and North Carolina will battle Syracuse with a trip to the national championship game Monday on the line.

There is plenty of intrigue and reason to watch the games for the games themselves. Three of the four teams had legitimate championship hopes entering the Tournament and were certainly favorites in most everyone’s brackets. And Syracuse made it here and has a chance just like everyone else, despite the number on their seed line.

There is plenty of intrigue though with the players involved too.

Buddy Hield has taken the Draft talk by storm with his scoring prowess in the NCAA Tournament, following a season where he put up gaudy scoring numbers. The senior guard has skyrocketed up draft boards and could very well be in the top five when things are all said and done.

Other NBA prospects in the Final Four include North Carolina center Brice Johnson — a super athletic, but undersized center who is good at blocking shots and grabbing rebounds — and Syracuse forward Michael Gibjne — a versatile wing player and good defender out of the Orange’s 2-3 zone.

Most of the draft prospects, in other words, have said their piece for game action before heading to the NBA Draft Combine in May.

There are still two weeks before Lottery odds are set. And there is still the NBA Draft Combine and the series of interviews that help teams sort out the Draft. And, of course, the Draft is a trading season and teams will get active talking to each other.

There will be a lot that happens between now and the Draft on June 23. Or even the Draft Lottery on May 17.

For now, with the college basketball season nearing its end, it is a good time to take a survey of who might be available when the Magic pick.

After Friday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Magic are slated to have the 10th best Lottery odds. Here is who the major mock drafts and draft sites have the Magic drafting:

Skal Labissiere. 10. player. 38. 19 year-old Kentucky big man Skal Labissiere’s struggles this season have been well documented, as his transition to the college game has been very disappointing. Coming into college with almost zero high level experience in actual five on five settings, Labissiere has looked ill equipped for the rigors of high major NCAA basketball, both from a physical standpoint and in terms of his own personal and mental toughness. Skal’s confidence seems to have been crushed by the “tough love” he’s received from Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who has berated his young big men incessantly and been very quick to bench him after the slightest mistake. —<a href=. C. Kentucky

The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Johnson has the perfect mix of scoring instincts, size, and mobility … He’s a long, wiry, and top level athlete with great athleticism … His game is very efficient … He’s built into his frame quiet nicely since arriving at UNC in 2012, but continuing to add strength and bulk will be a major area of focus so that he can hold his own at the next level … It remains to be seen if he can develop into a consistent floor spacer; as almost all of his offensive production comes inside the paint … Shows some reluctance to shoot outside the paint at times. —<a href=. PF/C. North Carolina. Brice Johnson. 11. player. 38

38. Skal was supposed to be the perfect power forward to plug in to any NBA system. He isn’t fast enough to switch out on to guards like some thought initially, but he is still an elite rim protector on defense. He has great instincts in help side and will have success with the NBA’s verticality rule. Offensively, he can hit 18-footers consistently, but has a lot to develop outside of that. Hopefully, he can get to a point where he can hit NBA threes consistently and also catch lobs out of the pick and roll. —<a href=. C. Kentucky. Skal Labissiere. 10. player

The Magic could definitely use a point guard, but what the Magic really need is a center who can anchor the paint on defense without hurting the offense. That is Poeltl. He struggled in Utah’s loss to Gonzaga, but he’s still good enough to safely plug into an NBA starting lineup for the next six or seven years. In Orlando, Nikola Vucevic hurts them on defense almost as much as he helps on offense. If Poeltl falls this far in June, the Magic should grab him. —<a href=. C. Utah. Jakob Poeltl. 11. player. 38

California. Ivan Rabb. 11. player. 38. Rabb really came on late in the season. There is some significant upside here as he gets stronger. He has already developed a solid midrange game, and it looks like there is the talent to expand that range. —<a href=. C

Right now, it seems everyone pegs the Magic to take a center or power forward with their draft pick in the 10 range. The main debate remains at the top where Brandon Ingram and Ben Simmons are the clear top candidates but in some other order.

Where the Magic are picking, it looks like they will have several young big men to choose from. Whether Orlando actually wants to wait on Labissiere to develop or to take Poeltl or whomever is something that can be determined in the coming months.

The Magic will be doing their due diligence on the Draft picks for sure before making a decision.

Next: OMD Podcast: Talking about the future

For now, we can kick back and watch the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four some.