Orlando Magic have been quiet. . . but still busy preparing for NBA Draft
The media has not gotten much word on the Orlando Magic’s draft prep. But the team has been busy. They brought in some smaller names this week for workouts.
The news coming out of the Amway Center has slowed to a trickle since Jeff Weltman took over as president of basketball operations. Draft preparations are surely going on, the media just has not gotten wind of it.
The team initially started the summer by opening some workouts to the media — at least the ones that would interest the media like NC State Wolfpack guard Dennis Smith and UCF Knights center Tacko Fall. Those have slowed down, for now.
But, as everyone knows, not everything in this process is open to the media. The Orlando Magic have conducted several workouts since then. It is unclear exactly who has come through town so far — or if anyone besides Smith for the No. 6 overall pick has sat in front of Orlando brass.
The Magic are still conducting workouts. And they still have a lot more planned.
Kentucky Wildcats point guard De’Aaron Fox told DraftExpress in a video posted last week confirmed he has a workout scheduled with the Magic.
It is not clear when that workout will take place. But it certainly seems like the Magic are getting ready to ramp up their Draft preparations and turn their focus more toward their top pick.
A lot of these workouts happen behind closed doors. And not all of the players any team works out get leaked to the media. The team could even ignore their interviews and workouts and go in a different direction.
Even though little is coming out to the media, the Magic are still doing their work.
They did indeed hold some workouts this week, per Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders:
The Magic worked out Tony Bradley, Dillon Brooks, Nigel Hayes, L.J. Peak and Davon Reed today, per source.
— Cody Taylor (@CodyTaylorNBA) May 30, 2017
None of those names are likely first round picks. They may not even be players the Magic consider with their second-round picks. The Magic have a Summer League and G-League roster to fill. The team is looking to do its homework on everyone.
The most notable names from that list are Tony Bradley and Dillon Brooks.
Bradley is a 6-foot-10 power forward for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He averaged 7.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He is a player who is all potential.
Brooks is a 6-foot-5 wing from the Oregon Ducks. He averaged 16.1 points per game and shot a 55.6 percent effective field goal percentage. He completed two strong years for Oregon, leading the team to the Final Four for the first time since 1939 last year.
That was all that leaked to the media this week. It is unclear who else the Magic have worked out or brought into Orlando.
The list of confirmed workouts is relatively small:
The biggest names on that list not previously reported on this site were Syracuse Orange forward Tyler Lydon and UCLA Bruins center Ike Anigbogu. Both players are potential prospects the Magic could select with the 25th overall pick.
Lydon averaged 13.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last year for Syracuse. He is the definition of an athletic tweener, but has a developing 3-point shot.
Anigbogu is the 6-foot-10, 250-pound center from UCLA. He averaged 4.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, but he has a lot of upside teams are surely high on.
There are surely more workouts and interviews to come. Likely the Magic’s front office used the past week to get settled in and set out their plans for the Draft as they continue to schedule workouts and interviews.
Next: 2017 Orlando Magic Draft Preview: Who is Ivan Rabb?
The Magic still have a lot of players they sure would like to contact. And they will get their chance before the June 22 NBA Draft to get that last bit of information to supplement their scouting.