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Five players the Orlando Magic must talk to at the NBA Draft Combine

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Mar 17, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Skal Labissiere (1) drives to the basket against Stony Brook Seawolves forward Jameel Warney (20) during the first half in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Skal Labissiere (1) drives to the basket against Stony Brook Seawolves forward Jameel Warney (20) during the first half in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /
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Skal Labissiere, Kentucky Wildcats, Jameel Warney, Stony Brook Sea Wolves
Mar 17, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Skal Labissiere (1) drives to the basket against Stony Brook Seawolves forward Jameel Warney (20) during the first half in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

The NBA Draft Combine begins Wednesday and the Orlando Magic will have their first chances in front of Draft prospects. Some may be more urgent to meet.

The NBA Draft has begun long ago as the teams around the league have been collecting data and evaluating prospects for years. The real fun though begins intently and interestingly this week in Chicago at the NBA Draft Combine.

Here many of the top prospects in the NBA Draft will get their official measurements and go through skills and agility drills. Most importantly, teams will have their first one-on-one contact with the prospects.

Indeed, most of the big-name players will not participate in any of the skills and just get their official measurements. It is really the coming together of general managers and executives and agents that matters. And those one-on-one interviews are truly the most important.

Here for the first time, NBA teams get to meet the prospect as a person rather than as a basketball player. They get to ask him questions and get to know him. It is these job interviews which can help separate which players teams want to invest in.

Throughout his tenure as general manager, Rob Hennigan has placed immense value on the interview process. It is the area where he finds out if a player truly fits the team’s culture. That is a big part of the consideration for the Magic and should be for any team.

It was a big reason why the Magic felt they could take the risk and draft the youngest player in the draft in Aaron Gordon in 2014.

Beginning Wednesday, teams will get the chance to meet with several prospects. Last year, teams could meet with six prospects on the three days of the NBA Draft Combine for no more than 30 minutes. It is an introductory job interview of sorts and helps set things up for individual workouts where the job interview continues.

It is certainly high pressured, but also an important step forward both for the team and the prospect.

This year has more intrigue added to it with the deadline for prospects to withdraw from the Draft pushed back and the pool of players at the Combine to 70. There will be a lot of information to sift through.

The NBA sets up the interviews so the Magic will not get their first sit down with everyone they want — surely Hennigan wants to sit down with everyone he can and gain as much information as possible.

Orlando does not know where it will draft yet — the NBA Draft Lottery takes place next Tuesday — but likely the team will be picking 11th. That limits some of their options but means they should still be able to get a quality player.

Beginning to sort through the options should begin with these five prospects.

Next: Skal Labissiere