2019 NBA Draft: Orlando Magic worked out several likely second-round prospects

The Orlando Magic have already begun their work in the NBA Draft as several likely second-round picks made their way through the Amway Center.

The Orlando Magic have been fairly quiet about their NBA Draft preparations.

Little has come out about who the Magic are interested in or who they have even interviewed. Few players disclosed they had met with the Magic at the NBA Draft Combine — although to be sure, the Magic used up as many of their interview slots as they could — and there is little news about who is trickling through the Amway Center.

The team has long done a lot of its work quietly. Jeff Weltman has opened some of the draft workouts to the media, but a lot of their work is done fairly quietly.

And a lot of first-round picks have taken some more control over the draft process by conducting their own workouts with their agencies in front of several teams.

There is not much reporting on where the Magic have been to view draft prospects or where they are at with their process. But it is safe to assume the team was among the group that watched Kentucky Wildcats guard Tyler Herro work out in New York City last week.

The team is surely very deep into the draft preparation before June 20. There is just very little information about what the team is doing.

Preparations appear set to pick up at the Amway Center as the team does group workouts and interviews to get to know this class better and finish their draft profiles on these players.

Friday, the Magic hosted a slate of likely second-round picks at the Amway Center for a set of group workouts. The team is indeed picking up steam.

None of the players the Magic worked out Friday are likely considered for the 16th overall pick. Orlando will have the 46th pick in the draft too and that is where these players likely fit in, if not perhaps a little bit before then.

The biggest name on the list is probably Florida State Seminoles forward Mifondu Kabengele.

The nephew of Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, Mfiondu Kabenge turned in a strong defensive season for Florida State. He averaged 13.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. He is a solid defensive player with good work around the basket and out on the perimeter.

There are a few people who have Kabengele in their top 30 as a potential first-round pick, including The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. His athleticism and rim protection is something that teams certainly could look to add.

The workout Friday featured a lot of bigs like LSU Tigers center Naz Reid and Michigan State Spartans forward Nick Ward.

Ward was an All-Big Ten team member after averaging 12.9 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game. He is more a traditional post player, working as a small center in the college game. He does not have much of a jumper or game outside of the paint. That could hurt him at 6-foot-9.

Naz Reid might remind some people of former Magic and LSU center Stanley Roberts. That is in both good and bad ways.

Reid is a tough interior player, averaging 13.6 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game. But he made only 46.8 percent of his shots. And that is on just 2.5 3-point attempts per game (roughly a quarter of his field goal attempts). That probably is not sustainable for him.

Reid has had issues keeping his weight down too. He is listed at 250 pounds and that is probably not an ideal playing weight if he wants to hang around the perimeter.

Orlando is working out a lot of bigs in this group as you can see. That might seem odd considering the Magic seem pretty set at center with Nikola Vucevic, Mohamed Bamba and Khem Birch (although two are free agents this summer).

The Magic are more building their database with this group. They want to bring in a lot of people so they have information on them if they want to acquire them later or bring them back for Summer League or the Lakeland Magic.

The Magic also had a couple of guards in their workout group.

The most interesting one was Tennessee Volunteers guard Jordan Bone.

Bone was one of the standout players at the NBA Draft Combine, measuring out well in the skill and agility tests and performing well in the scrimmages too.

Bone averaged 13.5 points per game, nearly doubling his scoring average in his junior year, and dishing out 5.8 assists per game. He is not much of a shooter, making just 35.5 percent of his 3-pointers.

His athleticism really impressed at the NBA Draft Combine. He had the highest standing vertical leap at 36 inches, the fastest shuttle run at 2.78 seconds, the second highest max vertical leap at 42.5 inches.

It is hard to ignore all of that. But he will have to put those skills together on a basketball court. And that is still the project with him.

The team also brought in Houston Cougars guard Corey Davis Jr.

Davis averaged 17.0 points per game and he took on a bigger scoring load for Houston last year, leading them into the NCAA Tournament. He was a solid shooter at 39.9 percent for his career and 37.5 percent last year. At 6-foot-1, he is not a great point guard with a low assist rate last year, never averaging more than two per game.

The Magic are expected to continue doing workouts at the Amway Center until the draft on June 20. They are well into their preparations already with a lot more to come.