As the NBA Draft approaches, it is time to look back at a tortured history of Orlando Magic draft picks. And maybe mine a few strong picks in the bunch.
The Orlando Magic have hungered for some Lottery luck recently.
The past six years have been tough to stomach. A rebuild process that began with trading Dwight Howard in 2012 was based on building through the NBA Draft. And, conversely, getting high draft picks through the Lottery.
The rebuild has not gone to plan. Orlando never got the runaway megastar the team needed in the Draft. While there were some solid picks in that time, the Magic did not hit nearly enough to see themselves get out of the league’s dregs.
Entering the 2018 NBA Draft, the Magic have the fifth-best odds to win the Lottery. They are hoping either to win the Lottery or get a solid player to re-jumpstart their rebuild. The team needs that influx of talent.
No one could blame Magic fans for believing in the Lottery though. It has always come through for them before. To find their way out of their current predicament will take some timely drafting.
That has not always been the case for the Magic throughout their history. Their best draft picks have always been the most obvious ones. Rarely has the team unearthed a diamond in the rough or some other player that otherwise surprised when they entered the league.
That might explain why the Magic have struggled to push forward during this rebuild in the same way they had before. Lottery luck can only favor a team so many times.
When Orlando has hit, though, they have hit unbelievably. The Magic in a short 30 years have drafted two no-doubt Hall of Famers, traded for another that would have been one if not for injuries. They drafted two Rookie of the Years and several other key players that created two of the most memorable Finals teams of the last 25 years.
That is at least something, right? And some hope that Lottery and Draft luck will shine on the Magic once again. Maybe, in the near future.
Here are the top 15 draft picks in Magic history, but first my honorable mentions:
Honorable Mentions
Anderson Varejao (2004 — Rd. 2, Pick 30): The Orlando Magic traded the energetic big man from Brazil on draft night to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He seemed like he would be a good energetic backup to rookie Dwight Howard. Instead, he had a 13-year career mostly with the Cavaliers.
Michael Doleac (1998 — Rd. 1, Pick 12): The sweet-shooting center from the Utah Utes played three seasons with the Orlando Magic, averaging 6.6 points per game. He carved out a solid career, eventually winning a championship with the Miami Heat in 2006.
Jonathan Isaac (2017 — Rd. 1, Pick 6): Expect Jonathan Isaac to climb out of the honorable mentions as his career continues to blossom. He already looks like a solid defensive player for a 20-year-old. But injuries cut his rookie year to just 27 games.
Zaza Pachulia (2003 — Rd. 2, Pick 42): Zaza Pachulia was a little-known center from Georgia (the country, not the state) who just seemed willing to outwork everyone in the league. He still is as he has stuck with the Golden State Warriors and his career continues on 15 years later.
Matt Harpring (1998 — Rd. 1, Pick 15): Matt Harpring seemed to catch everyone by surprise after the lockout in the 1999 season. He just wanted to work harder than everyone. That football ethos worked well into him. Despite playing just one year with the Magic, he left a big imprint. Injuries cut his career short after stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz.
1991 — Round 1, Pick 10
The Orlando Magic made Bison Dele — then Brian Williams — the 10th pick in the 1991 Draft as the team was still trying to find its way forward. The expansion glimmer was beginning to wear off the franchise and the team was still looking for a franchise player to build around.
They were not going to get that at 10.
Still, Bison Dele was an intriguing and versatile forward, averaging 14.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in his final year with the Arizona Wildcats. That got him in the top 10. And he played well his rookie year.
Dele averaged 9.1 points per game his rookie year largely coming off the bench. But he played in only 48 games. And injuries would characterize his first few years.
Really, Dele struggled to handle the limelight of being in the NBA. The realities of being turned out into the world was a lot for him to handle.
A lot of Dele’s life has been written about. His life was cut short when he was mysteriously lost at sea. Many suspect he was murdered.
But everyone in life knew he was a bit different. And no one seemed able to reach him to help him make the most of his talent. The lifestyle of a NBA player was too much. And we will never know what Williams could have been as a pair with Shaquille O’Neal.
2012 — Round 2, Pick 49
The Orlando Magic have unearthed a few solid second-round picks. But as would be the case for a lot of teams that have struggled with the draft, they let him go a few years too soon.
In fact, that is probably the case with a lot of the players on this list — and why the Magic have not been able to take that last step to win a title… or win sustainably. These are the players every team needs to feed a rebuild and sustain itself.
Rob Hennigan had a decent eye for talent, if not a smart eye for building a team. His selection of Kyle O’Quinn was one that seemed inspired.
Kyle O’Quinn made his mark in college leading the 15th-seeded Norfolk State Spartans over the Missouri Tigers. The energy, rebounding and defense seemed like they would be enough to overcome any talent shortcomings he might have. That is the typical profile of a hard worker.
It is no wonder O’Quinn has carved out a nice career. It started with the Magic, where he averaged 5.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game in three seasons for the Magic. He turned that into a multi-year deal with the New York Knicks and a key role within that franchise.
All anyone could ask for from a second-round pick at the end of the day.
2014 — 1st Round, Pick 10 (acquired in trade)
The Orlando Magic wanted a point guard in the 2014 Draft. They had already let longtime guard Jameer Nelson go and were ready to turn the page during this rebuild. They were determined to get one in this draft to set their rebuild on the right track.
Their draft night trade to move up two picks — dealing Dario Saric and a first-round pick that likely would not convey to the Philadelphia 76ers — to get him showed just how important they felt the position was. And just how much Rob Hennigan believed in Elfrid Payton.
There was no doubt Payton had some phenomenal moments in a Magic uniform. He is the team’s all-time leader in triple-doubles. And his 11.1 points, 6.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game in four seasons with the Magic are solid numbers. He was a four-year starter and a solid player at that, even with his notable shortcomings as a shooter.
Payton had a very good run in a Magic uniform. But it also coincides with the worst run in Magic history. And Payton was very much at the center of it.
Payton could put up solid numbers and fill the stat sheet, but his teams never won more than 35 games and there were zero Playoff appearances to his name. It also seemed, by various reports, management was so far in Payton’s corner that it cost them the team’s most successful coach of the last six years in Scott Skiles and possibly pushed the team to trade future All-Star Victor Oladipo.
It was extremely hard to find a good fit for Payton. And the Lefty Driesell Award winner in college as the nation’s best collegiate defender found himself struggling to keep NBA point guards in front of him. Sticking with Payton so long and so devotedly ultimately hurt the Magic in the long run.
Payton had more than a few moments for sure. But his time in Orlando was ultimately talent unfulfilled and full of frustration.
2005 — Round 2, Pick 57
The Orlando Magic acquired the little-known center from Poland in 2005 for cash considerations. It was a typical trade for a foreign player late in the second round. These players rarely make it over.
The Magic had Marcin Gortat play in their Summer League for a few years, but they largely kept him away. Marcin Gortat was a Summer League hall of famer not as much for his play and more for that he showed up every year. And there seemed little prospect of him coming over to the United States.
But each year, he seemed to impress a bit more. Here was a big bodied center, not afraid to throw his weight around with soft hands and a good defensive instinct. It was just a matter of finding space for him on the roster.
Eventually, Stan Van Gundy brought him over. And Gortat sat on the bench during the 2008 season. He was the victory cigar for that year as the Magic began to emerge with Dwight Howard.
Gortat kept working hard and became Howard’s main backup. His 11-point, 15-rebound performance in a series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round cemented his place not only as a fan favorite but in the Magic’s rotation. He was key to the team’s run to the NBA Finals that year.
And he became a fixture for the team the rest of his Magic tenure. A true Summer League-to-starter story. Of course, there was no way he could start with Howard on the team. He eventually would need to go elsewhere to get that opportunity. But it was clearly an opportunity he deserved.
2008 — Round 1, Pick 22
To the rest of the world, Courtney Lee might be known as the guy who missed the layup in Game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals. For the record, Pau Gasol goaltended that layup and it was on an alley-oop from essentially behind the basket. You try making that shot.
It was not easy, that is the point.
To Magic fans, Courtney Lee was the hard-nosed (literally, actually) shooting guard who played the perfect complimentary role in the team’s 2009 NBA Finals run. There would have been no run without the fearless play of this rookie. Or his timely shooting.
Lee needed some time to get acclimated to the NBA, but he found his groove just as the Magic were kicking it into gear for their Playoff run.
Even Dwight Howard breaking his nose did not stop him. He put on a mask for the last two rounds of the Playoffs, was not afraid to dunk on LeBron James and played a critical role for the team scoring the upset.
He was a player many Magic fans were excited to see continue growing as a defensive stopper and corner 3-point shooter. But that is not how this world works.
The Magic traded him that summer to the New Jersey Nets for Vince Carter. It is a deal many Magic fans still say they regret. And Lee became another draft pick that did not reach his full potential in Orlando.
2014 — Round 1, Pick 4
The Orlando Magic were hoping to get into the top three in the 2014 NBA Draft after two years of abject losing. This was going to be a foundational pick. Landing at four took them outside the surefire three of Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid. And it left the team with a difficult choice.
Orlando’s selection of Aaron Gordon was an investment in a seemingly limitless future. That was more because Gordon did not really have much definition to his game. Much less a position. He was an uber-athlete. Someone that could be molded into whatever the team wanted.
The Magic, unfortunately, did not give Gordon much direction in his first three years in the league. Injuries slowed that down too. He remained a super athlete and a danger in transition. He slowly developed into a solid defender. But it all lacked consistency.
His 2018 season proved to be his breakout turn.
Finally finding a home at power forward and having a full healthy summer to work on his game, Gordon averaged 17.6 points per game. His shooting came around as he made 33.6 percent of his 3-pointers and 69.8 percent of his free throws.
His game finally seemed to find an identity.
There were still those hair-raising dunks. The kind of dunks that made him a darling in the Slam Dunk Contest for two straight years — including a blow-for-blow turn with Zach LaVine in 2015 that became an all-time classic.
As Gordon prepares to enter restricted free agency, the Magic are still trying to figure out exactly what he is and what his ceiling might be.
That has still left a ton of memories with him in a Magic uniform.
2013 — Round 1, Pick 2
Excuse Orlando Magic fans for still being a bit sore for seeing Victor Oladipo make the All-Star team with the Indiana Pacers. There is the continued and growing belief that it should be in a Magic uniform he is doing all those things.
The guy to blame got fired a year after dealing Victor Oladipo to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Serge Ibaka. There cannot be any looking back in a failed rebuild, just pushing a way forward.
But Oladipo doing what he did for the Pacers in the 2018 season was exactly what Magic fans were hoping for Oladipo to do in three largely successful and promising years in pinstripes.
Oladipo averaged 15.9 points per game and 4.0 assists per game in his three seasons with the Magic. His 3-point shot was never consistent and his drives could be a bit wild, but the potential was all there.
He went toe to toe with Russell Westbrook in a double-overtime game against the Thunder in 2016. He had a 40-plus point game against the Cleveland Cavaliers that year too. He had big scoring performances in him. In addition to the occasional triple-double.
Oladipo was a multi-talented and likable player. Someone the team could build around. They just lost faith. Let that be the lesson of Oladipo’s three years. If a player shows potential, keep the faith.
2000 — Round 1, Pick 5
Name the two players who won Rookie of the Year in Orlando Magic history.
Shaquille O’Neal is the easy one. You probably said Dwight Howard for the other one. That would be wrong. And you probably guessed who the other one is by the header on this slide anyway.
The Magic took the sweet-shooting forward from up the road in Gainesville with the fifth pick and he immediately made an impact for a young team that needed some help with Grant Hill missing time.
Mike Miller quickly established himself as a key member of a playoff team, helping him edge out Kenyon Martin for the Rookie of the Year award. Mike Miller averaged 11.9 points per game and shot 40.7 percent from beyond the arc that rookie year. He increased his scoring average to 15 points per game the following two seasons.
In three years with the Magic, he averaged 14.1 points per game and shot a respectable 50.6 percent effective field goal percentage. His broken hand in the 2002 season derailed Orlando some as the team struggled to advance out of the first round with Tracy McGrady.
But Mike Miller’s friendship with Tracy McGrady was a critical part of those teams. It is easy to say that Miller’s trade was one of the ways things began to fall apart in the McGrady era.
Orlando flipped their former rookie of the year for two promising rookies in Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek. Neither delivered in quite the way Miller eventually would with the Memphis Grizzlies and throughout his entire career.
2006 — Round 1, Pick 11
J.J. Redick arrived in the NBA with a lot of baggage. He was from the Duke Blue Devils, number one. There was that pressure. And he was already the most-hated player in college basketball. Everyone seemingly wanted him to fail.
And for his first few years in the NBA, it seemed like he would. J.J. Redick struggled to get off the bench when Brian Hill was the coach. And Stan Van Gundy, also a noted defensive taskmaster, was not quick to play him either.
Redick played 76 games in his first two years. He asked then-general manager Otis Smith for a trade at one point. He was struggling to get on the floor.
But Redick stuck with it. He slowly got better defensively. And he slowly got playing time.
That work ethic endeared him to Magic fans. He quickly became a fan favorite. Throughout the 2009 Finals run and even after Dwight Howard left, J.J. Redick was a fan favorite.
In seven seasons, he averaged 9.2 points per game and shot a 53.1 percent effective field goal percentage. He has continued to grow and improve his game. Shooting never fades. And he proved that as he continued to grow his game.
Magic fans still have a soft spot for Redick.
1990 — Round 1, Pick 4
When Dennis Scott arrived to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, he had to convince then-coach Bobby Cremins to let him pull up from the 3-point line almost indiscriminately. No one thought of the 3-point line as that kind of a weapon.
When he got to the NBA, it still took convincing coaches Matt Guokas and Brian Hill to let him fire from 3-point range. That pesky line that had been there since 1980 was not something anyone ever figured out how to use.
Credit Dennis Scott as one of the forerunners of the 3-point revolution in the mid-1990s. His run with the Orlando Magic — and their run to the 1995 NBA Finals to meet the equally 3-point happy Houston Rockets — made the 3-point line an accepted strategy.
Scott hit 40.3 percent from beyond the arc in seven seasons with the Magic. That included a season where he averaged 19.9 points per game. He was not like anything the league had seen. Or at least, he was given the freedom to be that shooter.
And when the Magic got Shaquille O’Neal, the two became fast friends and perfect complements. O’Neal drew the defense in and Scott made them pay with his barrage of 3-pointers.
He led the league in 3-point makes in 1996 and that was his ultimate legacy. Scott was part of the group that made 3-pointers cool. And made them a successful strategy in the league.
2004 — Round 1, Pick 20 (acquired on draft night)
The Orlando Magic were excited on the night of the 2004 NBA Draft. They had the first overall pick, after all, and took a big swing with Dwight Howard.
The other move they made went under the radar. But proved to be equally big.
Orlando dealt a future first-round pick to acquire the National Collegiate Player of the Year from St. Joseph’s. And that move paid off dividends. Jameer Nelson proved height was just a number. And he became one of the most beloved players in team history.
Nelson spent 10 years in Orlando, averaging 12.6 points per game and dishing out 5.4 assists per game. He was just a steady player throughout his career. He slowly rose to become a starter for the team after being more than a spark plug off the bench.
He turned into an All-Star in 2009 but had to sit out and wait through the finals run thanks to a shoulder injury. That was the kind of hard luck Nelson had at times.
But he was the constant for the Magic. Even through the Dwight Howard troubles at the end of his Magic tenure. Nelson came in and did his work. he never pretended to be something he wasn’t.
And for a young Magic team, he was the leader they needed. Probably someone the Magic should have held onto a bit longer.
1989 — Round 1, Pick 10
The Orlando Magic’s original player will always be Nick Anderson.
Like Courtney Lee, nationally he has a bad reputation because of one bad moment in the NBA Finals. But that moment is nowhere near the radar of his local legacy. He will always be among the best draft picks in Orlando Magic history because of everything he gave the team in those early years.
Nick Anderson jokingly says now he could not point to Orlando on a map when he was drafted out from the Illinois Fighting Illini in 1989. This was a completely new franchise. By the time he left the organization 10 years later, he helped put Orlando on the map. And eventually he called it home — he still acts as a community ambassador.
Anderson averaged 15.4 points per game in his 10 years with the Magic. He went from leading scorer to supporting character, to ace defender to 3-point shooter to back to leading scorer in his final year with the team. He did whatever the team needed of him.
And he is still doing whatever the team needs of him it feels like. Magic fans are happy to have him around still.
To get 10 years — 10 good years — out of the team’s first ever draft pick was a great foundation for the franchise. He was never an All-Star, but he was always a rock for the team.
2004 — Round 1, Pick 1
Believe it or not, there was a legitimate debate on draft night over whether the team should draft Dwight Howard.
Emeka Okafor was the established college star and Dick Vitale was screaming his head off on the ESPN broadcast that the Magic made a mistake taking the scrawny high schooler. Tracy McGrady essentially told the team that if they took the raw center from Atlanta they should prepare to trade him (they did).
All of those moves proved to pay off in the end. Howard needed time to develop and grow. He averaged a double-double off the bat and seemed to get better and better from there.
He came to define the Magic anchoring the best runs in franchise history. Probably not the most iconic in the franchise’s history, but he was the best player during the team’s longest sustained run of success.
In many ways, Dwight Howard was the second coming of Shaquille O’Neal. Even down to taking the Superman moniker.
But he was different from O’Neal. He was a defensive force and clearly the best defensive player in a Magic uniform. Howard won three Defensive Player of the Year awards. He was the one guy who seemed able to repel LeBron James and Derrick Rose at the rim. It is hard to understate just how much of an impact he had on the defensive end.
The Magic’s surprise 2009 Finals run brought new attention and brought new scrutiny to him. His somewhat immature, fun-loving ways became a knock rather than a charm. And that ultimately unwound the team. The pressure to win was too great for him and for the team.
His ugly exit overshadowed eight amazing years in a Magic uniform. One that clearly puts him in the Mt. Rushmore of Magic greats.
1993 — Round 1, Pick 3 (acquired via trade)
The Orlando Magic were roundly booed inside the Orlando Arena when they announced they had traded Chris Webber for an oversized point guard and three future first-round picks. Then general manager Pat Williams promised the fans he would turn those boos into cheers.
It did not take long for fans to realize their mistake. And that Anfernee Hardaway was the perfect complement to Shaquille O’Neal for the long term.
Anfernee Hardaway averaged 16.0 points and 6.6 assists per game his rookie year, helping guide the Magic to their first franchise Playoff berth. It was clear the Magic were taking off and Hardaway was going to lead them.
By the following year, he was an All-NBA player, All-Star and one of the most popular players in the league. The Magic were bona fide stars with O’Neal and Hardaway reaching the NBA Finals.
Even after O’Neal left, Hardaway’s star continued to shine. He nearly single-handedly defeated the Miami Heat in the first round of the 1997 Playoffs. Only injuries were able to derail his career.
Hardaway was a truly transcendent player. One of the few the Magic have ever had. His knee and ankle injuries were the only thing that slowed him down.
And he is truly one of the few steals in Orlando Magic history. The Magic got three first-round picks — only because Pat Williams said he asked Don Nelson for six to start with — along with a two-time All-NBA First-Team Player and a four-time NBA All Star. He even made the All-Star team when he was injured and unable to play.
That is impact. And the Magic would not have become the classic team they became in 1995 without Hardaway and his presence.
One word has defined the Orlando Magic and their legacy for much of their 30-year existence.
Shaquille O’Neal.
He is a monolith within the Magic organization — both the root cause of the team’s great successes and the root cause of its greatest shames and failures. His departure haunts the team in many ways still.
Winning the NBA Draft Lottery in 1992 was a franchise-changing moment. It would be for everyone. As the story goes, every team had a No. 1 O’Neal jersey hidden underneath their desks. The Magic and their personnel now say they were still torn on the pick up until the final day. But that is not fooling anyone. Christian Laettner and Alonzo Mourning are no Shaquille O’Neal.
O’Neal instantly made the Magic a household and national franchise. They were a show in the NBA and quickly became one of the best and most exciting teams in the league. Even in four seasons, O’Neal might be the best player in franchise history. The argument for Dwight Howard seems more base don longevity than actual statistics.
O’Neal ended up averaging 27.2 points and 12.5 rebounds per game in a Magic uniform. He was a dominant, athletic big man who no one in the league had any kind of answer for.
Next: Orlando Magic Top 25: Top 6 players in team history
And there is no other answer for the best pick in Magic history. Sometimes, it is the obvious one.