Michael Porter not among Orlando Magic interviews at Draft Combine

The Orlando Magic are doing their homework at the NBA Draft Combine, interviewing several first-round prospects. Michael Porter Jr. is not one of them.

The Orlando Magic did not get the chance to interview top draft prospect Michael Porter Jr. at this week’s NBA Draft Combine, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports from the Combine in Chicago.

It merely means he was not among the interviews the Magic were granted as part of the Combine process. Not that they are not interested in bringing him in later.

Teams are limited to 30-minute interviews with a select number of prospects the NBA assigns to them. But the teams could request who they wanted to speak to. It is unclear whether the Magic requested an interview with Porter.

It would make sense for them to do so, however. Porter is in line for a selection in the top 10 of the draft. He has quickly become one of the possible favorite selections for the Magic with the sixth overall pick.

Porter missed all but three games with a back injury while playing for the Missouri Tigers. He returned for the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament. Before then, he was the second-best recruit in the nation and considered a potential top overall pick in the NBA Draft.

While the Magic did not get the chance to interview him at the Draft Combine, it still seems highly likely they will interview him and have him in Orlando for a workout in the future.

Then again, they never interviewed Jonathan Isaac at the Draft Combine or had him in Orlando for a pre-draft workout before taking him with the sixth overall pick last year. An interview in this formal setting is not necessarily a requirement for selection with the team.

Then again, the team had not hired Jeff Weltman before last year’s Combine and Jonathan Isaac did not attend the Combine anyway.

Orlando though did plenty of research on other candidates throughout the Draft. That is a big part of the exercise.

Among the players the Magic interviewed, as reported by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, were Boston College Eagles guard Jerome Robinson, Villanova Wildcats forward Donte DiVincenzo, Miami Hurricanes guard Bruce Brown Jr. and IMG Academy guard Anfernee Simons.

Simons is likely the name many will point to as one of the more intriguing prospects in the draft. Anfernee Simons is indeed named after Anfernee Hardaway and grew up in the Orlando area. He found a loophole in the NBA’s rules that enabled him to apply for the Draft straight out of high school.

Simons is a raw athlete with the potential to develop into a strong offensive player. He is unproven as in high school he could use his athleticism to overpower weaker defenders. Even playing at a high-level high school like IMG.

The question with him is whether he can continue developing as a point guard or build a strong enough shot to play shooting guard.

Simons is projected to go in the middle of the first round. He withdrew from the scrimmages at the NBA Draft Combine, staying only for measurements and drills.

The other names the Magic interviewed all figure to go in the mid- or late-first round.

Bruce Brown averaged 11.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game for the Hurricanes. He shot just 26.7 percent from beyond the arc. He seems to be a forward in a guard’s body. Sort of like the way Nick Anderson was in the late 1980s.

Donte DiVincenzo took the nation by storm with a 31-point performance in the national championship game of the NCAA Tournament. He was solid off the bench for the Villanova Wildcats all year, averaging 13.4 points per game and hitting on 40.1 percent of his 3-point shots.

DiVincenzo can appropriately be described as a grinder. He is not afraid to mix things up and get after the glass. But he can also step out behind the 3-point line. His veteran leadership as a junior off the bench for Villanova is something that could easily translate to the NBA.

Jerome Robinson also could go in the late first or early second round. He averaged 20.7 points per game and shot 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. This a year after averaging a bit more than 18 points per game and shooting 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.

The 3-point shooting improvement is certainly encouraging with him. He was a natural scorer at the collegiate level, but still has work to do to round out his game. The shooting is a big part of it.

The NBA Draft Combine will conclude Friday with the final day of drills and scrimmages and the last round of interviews for teams. From there, the team will (name a coach, probably) invite prospects into town for individual and group workouts.

Next: 6 players the Orlando Magic could draft in the NBA Draft

The Magic hold the sixth, 35th and 41st pick in the draft.