6 players the Orlando Magic could pick in the 2018 NBA Draft

Mikal Bridges, G/F Villanova

There may not be a safer pick among the guys outside of the top group than Mikal Bridges.

A three-year player for the Villanova Wildcats, his ascendance into the lottery was a very slow one. Entering his junior year, it probably was not even certain he had a NBA future. This was a guy coming off the bench and mainly cutting his teeth as a defender.

But this year on the clear-cut national champion, Bridges turned into one of the team’s most reliable players and best scorer. He developed a killer 3-point shot and is possibly the best two-way player in the draft.

At least, he is the one who can most clearly play a role with the potential to do a bit more. This is your “low ceiling” (relatively), high floor guy.

Bridges averaged 17.7 points per game and shot 43.5 percent from beyond the arc. Those are both numbers that seem to project well to the NBA level. At best a team can stick him into a defensive scheme and fit in and put him in the corner as a floor spacer.

His potential will be based on whether he grows the ability to drive and be a primary attacker. That was something he was sometimes reticent to do at Villanova. It is not the primary part of his game. At least at a NBA level.

And so the next question then becomes whether the Magic want to make the safe pick with Bridges at 6 rather than the high upside pick. Bridges certainly could grow to be more.

But at the very least he is a solid 3-an-D type player. That may be too reductive for Bridges’ game. But he is someone that would check a lot of boxes, even if he was not a potential All-Star at the end of the day.