Orlando Magic Daily Pre-NBA Draft Lottery Big Board
The Best of the Rest
There is a clear top seven in this draft. And the Orlando Magic are likely to get one of those seven players. But that does not mean there are not some intriguing players who could climb into contention — as noted, especially the last two do not seem to fit the team’s future plans.
While these players may not have the same star potential — although, it being the Draft who knows what anyone’s potential really is? — they will still provide a solid contribution to whatever team drafts them. These guys, at the very least, will be role players for a very long time.
Mikal Bridges was a junior who finally had his breakout his third year as the Villanova Wildcats tore its way through the NCAA this year. The Wildcats were one of the best teams in the nation all year and dominated throughout the NCAA Tournament to win their second national championship in three years.
Bridges profiles as one of the best 3-and-D players in the Draft. His experience makes him the surest thing int he Draft. If one with a more certain ceiling. If the Draft is a futures game, Bridges feels about as safe as a typical 401k mutual fund.
Bridges averaged 17.7 points per game and shot 43.5 percent from beyond the arc. He cut his teeth his first two years in college as a strong, versatile defender. His scoring explosion this year was the product of several years of work.
Bridges is the most likely to make an immediate impact and fit into a role. He just never may become the star that a team needs. But if you are drafting at this spot in the draft, he is more than OK. And Bridges is still liable to get hot and have a big game too.
At the beginning of the season, Collin Sexton was ranked among the best players in the entire draft class. He was tearing things up with some impressive statistical performances. Not to mention he had an iconic performance nearly leading the Alabama Crimson Tide over the Minnesota Golden Gophers despite playing 3-on-5.
He had 40 points in that game. It was the kind of iconic game that tells scouts what kind of competitiveness and intensity. Those kinds of stories go a long way. At least anecdotally.
Sexton is a good defender and a gifted passer. But his shooting still leaves a lot to be desired. He shot just 33.6 percent from the college 3-point line.
After his strong start, he also had a deep swoon in the middle of the season that put Alabama squarely on the bubble. And that caused his draft stock to slide just a bit.
He played extremely well in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament though. His season-long average was 19.2 points and 3.6 assists per game. He averaged 16.8 points and 3.8 assists per game in SEC play. In the postseason, Sexton posted 24.2 points per game, 3.6 assists per game and shot 52.7 percent from the floor with a 60.1 percent effective field goal percentage.
His shooting will be the key to his future regardless.
A lot of the attention for the Duke Blue Devils turned to Marvin Bagley. He was the one putting up the splashy numbers and getting a lot of the offensive attention. There is a current of scouts who believe his batterymate Wendell Carter Jr. might be the better pro prospect.
The stats are not eye-popping. He posted 13.5 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game. Bagley ate up a lot of the statistics. But Carter provided most of the defensive impact for the Blue Devils throughout the season.
He also appears to have some 3-point shooting potential, although that is not a big part of his game. Carter works more as a modern center. He is not the crazy athlete of other rim protecting centers, but he has a solid game. A game that did not get the chance to blossom and shine in college.