Orlando Magic Daily Roundtable: The final countdown
Is it more important for the Orlando Magic to maintain their draft position or bank up wins and build a winning culture?
Palmer: This is an extremely tough question. Building a winning culture certainly makes more sense. But I think we have already passed the point of building a winning culture this season. I think what is more important is to let the young guys learn on the job, whether it rakes in the Ws or Ls, it is the most important thing to the team.
Rossman-Reich: I think it is more important to win. This team is probably not good enough to win the majority of their games so they will maintain draft position, maybe make it a little worse. But I think for where this franchise is, losing a spot, maybe two, is worth the price of gaining confidence and establishing a base. This is a tricky question because the Magic need to improve their talent. The top three is still a lottery and I am certain in this draft you can get a good player if you are in the top six or seven. The Magic, in reality, probably will not fall that low. It is worse to me to lose games embarrassingly — 40-point losses, losing double-digit leads in the fourth quarter — than keep up Lottery hopes.
Doyle: I am torn on this question. I hate seeing this team constantly lose. It has been five years of losing. I would like to see the Magic claw some wins out at the end of the year. Sadly, I do not think their talent will allow them to win. So, I am going to say I want the Magic to keep this draft position. If they can win a few games in the process, it will not bother me.
Jumani: I want Orlando to give young players minutes, if that results in getting wins, then that is great for the young players and their experience in the future. But if the magic do lose, that is also good because the young guys are getting playing time, which hopefully, enhances their potential for the future, doing all that while getting a shot at a top-3 pick. Great results either way.
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Badillo: Easy, bank up wins and build a winning culture. The Magic for the past five years have always looked at the Draft as a way to help the team make the playoffs. Well, it is not working and it is time for plan B and actually to go out and learn how to win games the hard way. I know this year’s draft is full of young talented players. And, yes, it would be nice to see the Magic land that first pick. But it is a risk the Magic has been doing for several years already. It has not gotten them anywhere.
Grullon: This is a very difficult question. Part of me wants to see the Magic play competitive basketball and win some games in the season’s final month. But the reality is losing games (“tanking”) and getting a high draft pick will help the team more long-term. The Magic have two first round picks this year to use on what should be a deep draft class. The team should try to to maintain their current draft position and draft a player that can fill a void and hopefully turn into a star player.
Iwanowski: Give me the best shot at big talent. The Magic have no franchise-changing players on their roster, and they really need at least one to be able to compete for even the playoffs in this league. Even the teams competing for the 8-seed in the East have top 10-15 players on them. Winning culture is built by having players capable of winning a lot of games, and that is not something this team has. The Magic probably have the second least favorable roster going forward and need to change that before worrying about establishing a winning culture. Plus, we do not know how many of these guys will be around next year.