Setting up workouts
Now comes one of the last pieces to the draft puzzle. Getting players in the Amway Center for individual workouts and the “job interview” with the staff. Orlando has probably already started bringing prospects in for this process.
They just are not one to publicize what they are doing.
But they are doing that work, even if they do not get out to the public. And they are likely to have some of their main prospects in town.
The Orlando Magic are reportedly set to work out Washington Huskies, as reported by Michael Scotto of The Athletic last week:
Pac-12 Player of the Year Jaylen Nowell has workouts scheduled with the Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic, and Phoenix Suns following the combine, @TheAthleticNBA has learned. Nowell has also worked out for the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) May 9, 2019
Nowell scored 22 points on 8-for-20 shooting, making two of his eight 3-pointers in a pair of scrimmages at the NBA Draft Combine. With the Huskies last year, he averaged 16.2 points per game, shooting 44.0 percent from beyond the arc and winning the Pac-12 Player of the Year.
Then again, the Magic did not hold private workouts for their last two picks — Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba. Orlando executives met with both of those players on their turf.
But that was also at the No. 6 pick. Players higher in the lottery tend to have a little bit more power over who they talk to and how they interact with teams before the draft. Players lower in the pecking order do not have that same leverage. Orlando will likely get to workout their preferred player — and perhaps see him in more group settings.
That is the advantage of picking at No. 16. They get to see players who have something to prove. Think of how several teams saw Donovan Mitchell in more competitive atmospheres.
That had a lot to do with where he was picked. If he was considered a top prospect, he probably would have stayed away from playing against other players. But the Utah Jazz getting to see Mitchell workout with other players saw exactly what kind of competitor he was and traded up to select him at No. 13.
Orlando likely will get to see more prospects in three on three settings and with larger groups. They probably will not get as many players in for individual workouts. They can learn a lot more anyway if players are willing to workout with others.