The Orlando Magic carried on with their NBA Draft preparations at the Combine despite Thursday’s news, reportedly interviewing several bigs.
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports the Orlando Magic interviewed eight prospects Wednesday including Marquette forward Henry Ellenson, Michigan State center Deyonta Davis, forward Thon Maker and Michigan State combo forward Denzel Valentine. The team also spoke to Utah center Jakob Poeltl on Thursday before news broke of Skiles’ resignation.
Utah big man Jakob Poeltl said he met with the Magic yesterday. He didn't know during the interview that Scott Skiles had resigned.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) May 13, 2016
These are all prospects the team could be in position to draft at No. 11, the team’s likely spot for the NBA Draft Lottery.
Despite the turmoil going on for the Orlando Magic’s front office, the NBA calendar pushes on and the Magic moved forward with their draft preparations at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.
While the decision from Scott Skiles to resign from his position as the Magic’s head coach was making its way through the front office, orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan was conducting interviews with potential draft prospects alongside assistant general managers Scott Perry and Matt Lloyd, scout Anthony Parker and, reportedly, assistant coach Adrian Griffin.
They were conducting interviews throughout Wednesday and Thursday even as Skiles was tendering his resignation and Hennigan was flying back to Orlando to meet the media and address the shocking situation the team found itself in.
The NBA calendar marches on. And the Magic have to continue this incredibly important draft preparation for the team ahead of Tuesday’s Draft Lottery — where the Magic are most likely to receive the 11th pick officially.
That still leaves plenty of options and plenty of prospects for them to sift through.
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reported the Magic intended to use all 20 of their available interview spots during the three-day NBA Draft Combine concluding Friday in Chicago. It is unclear if Thursday’s news changed or interrupted any of those plans — beyond Hennigan’s departure from Chicago to Orlando.
The team did meet with several prospects they very well could look to draft at No. 11 or elsewhere. Each of the prospects they have reportedly interviewed could fill important needs for the Magic and be available when they select, provided they do not move into the top three.
There are expected to be a fair amount of big men available at No. 11 or thereabouts and so interviewing Davis, Poeltl and Maker is not terribly surprising.
Poeltl was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year at Utah after averaging 17.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He is a big player with a solid mid-range game and good sense around the basket.
He moves well for a 7-footer. But he lacks great athleticism defensively and still has a somewhat rudimentary post game. His speed and footwork should help him be able to recover defensively as he puts on some muscle and develops his game.
Davis is a raw freshman from Michigan State. He averaged 7.5 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game in 18.5 minutes per game.
He has all the physical tools to be a good player and can be a monster around the rim. His skills just remain very raw. He supposedly has a better jumper than he showed at Michigan State, but it is hard to say what he can be other than just a physically adept center.
Thon Maker is perhaps the biggest mystery of the draft. Maker has first round talent, there is no doubt about that. He opted though to skip his year of college and be classified as an international player, allowing him to enter this year’s draft a year early. Both NBADraft.net and Draft Express currently have him going in the second round.
At 7-foot-1, it is hard to ignore him and he is physically imposing. In transition, he is a handful for a defense and very athletic. But he is still learning the game and it is clear in watching his tape in half-court situations that he has a long way to go.
Orlando owns two second round picks, but Maker is likely a player a team takes a flyer on late in the first round to lock him into its development program or takes early in the second round to develop.
The other players the Magic reportedly interviewed this week are not true centers like these three, but still could fill a need.
Henry Ellenson is a 6-foot-11 forward from Marquette who averaged 17.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game as something of a traditional power forwrd for the Golden Eagles.
He probably has the most polished offensive game of any player the Magic could take at this spot. But Ellenson is not a great athlete. He would still need some work defensively even with his solid frame. And, despite an above-average jumper, he is not a great 3-point shooter. He would have to develop into a stretch-4. He certainly is not good enough to challenge Aaron Gordon much for playing time.
Valentine is perhaps the most versatile and NBA-ready prospect of the bunch the Magic reportedly interviewed. Valentine felt very much like a mini-Draymond Green at Michigan State last year, averaging 19.2 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and 7.8 assists per game. It is hard to ignore those kind of numbers.
Of course, Valentine is not Green. He is more of a shooting guard but still lacks some lateral quickness and defensive instincts to be a breakthrough player. Even in Tom Izzo’s defensive mentality, Valentine struggled. He put up a lot of numbers, but how he got them is certainly something NBA scouts will continue to question.
These are all important things to consider as the Magic began their interview process and began to learn more about the players individually to inform their decision.
This is not an exhaustive list, obviously. The Magic certainly interviewed others and were probably fishing for both first and second round selections.
Next: Early list of Orlando Magic coaching candidates emerge
The process though has certainly begun.