The Orlando Magic have a major need they need to fill. With the shooters available in this draft, there can certainly find some options in the draft.
For most casual NBA fans, the NCAA Tournament is the first time everyone sits down to get a good look at the NBA Draft prospects. These are high-pressure games and they tend to get the most attention and stick with fans, at least.
Especially for players in the middle of the first round, this is a time they rely on to solidify their spots in the Lottery, rise up draft boards or get a second look that can stay with scouts and decisionmakers, let alone fans, for a long time.
A lot of the books on these players are written for these players. The NCAA Tournament is just another chapter. But it is an important one. Last impressions in meaningful games can help a lot of players.
Especially when they come from mid-major schools. And especially for teams looking for players who are ready to step up to the plate immediately.
But now we do not have those tournament games to finalize opinions — or form first impressions, as they might be.
With those seasons over, draft boards have some clarity and the Orlando Magic can at least begin to target who they want to take.
Who are the Magic looking at? Who should the Magic be looking at?
Undoubtedly, Orlando has to get their draft night right (whenever it happens). It is not clear what the league will look like and what the Magic will be able to do. Financially, the Magic will have more limited cap room than they might initially anticipate.
While the Magic absolutely should stick to their values in the draft and find a player that fits their comfort zone and eye, they also need to find a player who can help and contribute to the roster. Beyond just Chuma Okeke, whom the Magic certainly will expect to step in and fill a role.
Undoubtedly, the Magic have needs to fill. They desperately need reliable shooters. And that can be something they can find where they are likely drafting at No. 15.
With the NCAA season over and much of basketball around the world shuttered, here are a few guys the Magic should be looking at as they continue to refine their draft process.
Devin Vassell, Florida State
Programs build reputations by winning and winning in the NCAA Tournament year after year. They build reputations by placing players in the NBA and seeing them succeed. And the cycle tends to repeat itself.
Like any job, if you have one good player from a school, you begin to trust that coach and that school to produce good players in the future.
The Orlando Magic already have a player from Leonard Hamilton’s Florida State Seminoles. And it is safe to say they like his pedigree and the things he is all about.
But when you look at other recent players from the Florida State family, you see a lot of players who are also defensive-minded and able to fit into their teams and their roles. There are promising players all over the place that come from Hamilton’s coaching tree — Dwayne Bacon, Mfiondu Kabengele and Terance Mann among them.
Hamilton has a few players who seem set to make that NBA jump this year after their first regular-season ACC title in school history. And there is at least one young player with top-end talent to take a look at.
But in Florida State’s balanced offense that has always relied on upperclassmen to succeed in the regular season, one player still stood out for the role he filled. The sharpshooter that caught fire and provided steady spacing.
The guy who is quickly rising into the Lottery depending on how the draft shakes out.
Devin Vassell proved to be one of the most important players for the Seminoles in that run to the ACC title. The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 12.7 points per game and shot 41.5 percent from beyond the arc (73.8 percent from the foul line).
Vassell was not exclusively a 3-point shooter. He was known more for his efficiency and ability to work around the defense than necessarily his spot-up shooting. His highlight reel shows him able to hit off the dribble, although he does not have the first step to get all the way to the basket.
Still, Vassell has his share of nice dunks. So if you give him a runway he can use his (yes) length to finish above the rim even if he does not have out-of-this-world athleticism. Vassell is a threat to score both from long-range, setting himself up off the dribble to step into shots, and from the mid-range where he can work to create space for himself.
Vassell still has to put some muscle on to take some of the hits he surely would take running off screens or trying to attack the basket.
But he has that magical buzz word president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman — length. Those arms might be lanky at the moment, but they hang awfully low.
It is that length that makes him so promising defensively too. He has 3-and-D potential for sure. He averaged 1.4 steals per game, showing his versatility on that end too.
The question for Vassell is whether his shooting will carry over to the NBA. He can clearly do that at the college level, bumping up his minutes in his first year of real playing time and maintaining some incredible efficiency. He can clearly play a role to support a strong team too.
That all bodes well for a team like the Magic looking for a player who can fill in and play a role. Vassell is someone who fits a type and fits a need. He has to be at the top of the list for the Magic, based on his skill set at least.
R.J. Hampton, New Zealand Breakers
At the beginning of the year, there were several players that had already caught a lot of scouts’ attention for the top of the draft.
James Wiseman, LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton were probably near the top of most draft boards at the beginning of the summer. All three did not get a ton of moments in the spotlight or play very much this year, adding to the mystery of this draft.
Wiseman played in only a handful of games before the NCAA revoked his eligibility and he withdrew from the school. Ball went to Australia and played until January when he left his team.
Hampton left for New Zealand, also choosing not to go the college route. Another non-traditional route for an American player.
Hampton started the year at the top of the draft class, but now it is a bit more uncertain where he will end up.
He is listed at 6-foot-5 as a combo guard. But he is more of a scorer than a point guard. He can attack the rim and finish with athleticism.
That is probably his biggest attribute right now. He plays quick and can get downhill toward the basket where he can finish above the rim or make plays to others. Like a lot of young point guards, the open floor is his friend.
He is able to hit from the outside, but it is not his strength yet.
Hampton is still relying mostly on his athleticism. He has a lot of the tools to be a great defender, but he has not put all the pieces together.
He very much looked like a young player going up against men in his time in the NBL in Australia and New Zealand.
That will be the biggest thing with Hampton it seems, the patience for him to figure everything out. He probably doe snot work as well on a team like the Magic with an already established pecking order at point guard unless they brought him in to be the leader of the second unit.
While Hampton, having played on a professional team in a pretty good league in Australia, might be more equipped to handle that than the typical rookie, he probably does not quite fill in and impact a playoff team immediately.
Then again, the talent is undoubtedly there for him.
Aaron Nesmith, Vanderbilt
Aaron Nesmith was not going to get the benefit of the NCAA Tournament. His Vanderbilt Commodores had a difficult season under first-year coach Jerry Stackhouse and would fall woefully short.
Nesmith’s complete profile was there for scouts to ponder over. But even that was incomplete.
A big reason the team fell short of expectations was the loss of their leading scorer in Nesmith to a stress fracture in his right foot in January. That might be why he could tumble to where the Magic are picking. And without a standard pre-draft process for teams to personally evaluate his health and status, there could be at least a few teams who might stay away.
The team that takes the risk is going to get a supremely good scorer.
It is exceedingly tough to average 20 points per game in the 40-minute, slower-paced college game. Only 28 players in all of Division I college basketball can claim that mantle. To do so requires a pretty high usage rate and a lot of shots.
That is what makes Nesmith really intriguing and interesting. He averaged 23.0 points per game on 14.6 field goal attempts per game and a 62.2-percent effective field goal percentage. His usage rate was still at 26.3 percent, according to Sports-Reference, but the way Nesmith could get his shots is a way that can translate to the NBA.
Vanderbilt used a lot of its offense to get Nesmith coming around screens and even popping on pick and rolls. They wanted to try to suck the defense off him and give him the space to shoot. He is a solid spot-up shooter. And if he can continue to work on his cutting, he could help twist defenses some with his gravity.
In his 14 games last year, Nesmith shot 52.2 percent on 8.2 3-point field goal attempts per game and 82.2 percent from the line. Nesmith might be one of the most elite shooters in this draft.
The question is whether he will provide much else.
He is not a natural driver. He can make straight line-drives to the basket, but even finishing over smaller defenders is tough for him off the dribble. Nesmith is not finishing over anyone. He has good athleticism to finish around smaller defenders, but he is not the supreme athlete to dunk over anyone.
He prefers to stop and hit a turnaround jumper over defenders, rather than get all the way to the basket.
Defensively, he has a lot of the tools teams want. At 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, he checks off that box for the Magic. He is a smart defender. But he does not possess great athleticism or understanding to use his athleticism to slow down opposing players.
He is young enough that he still should be able to learn technique and improve on that end. The physical tools are all there.
But ultimately, no one should rely on Nesmith to be their top player. At least not with how he looked in college. He put up prodigious scoring numbers but Vanderbilt still struggled with him out there — the Commodores did not beat a single power conference team before Nesmith’s injury.
Nesmith is someone who could fit into a role with a team as a floor-spacer and shooter though. If he has rehabbed and regained strength in his leg, then he should be set for a solid rookie season no matter where he is drafted. Just as long as they find the right role for him.
Josh Green, Arizona
The Arizona Wildcats have a host of young players who could enter this year’s draft and find themselves within the Orlando Magic’s target range. Despite any off-court controversy, Sean Miller does an incredible job recruiting and building young rosters that compete at the highest levels.
This year’s Arizona team was an intriguing one with some great young players, including Josh Green.
The 6-foot-6 guard from Australia has come a long way very quickly. He has played basketball for only five years after starting in Australian-rules football. But the gains are pretty clear.
Green averaged 12.0 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game. He hit 36.1 percent of his 3-pointers on 2.8 3-point attempts per game.
Like many of these players, Green has good size for a guard. You can tell he played football by the way he carries himself and the bulk of his shoulders. He is a strong dude. And his high relatively high rebound rate for a guard also clues you into his physicality.
Green’s game is still pretty basic. He is an improving shooter. Arizona used him a lot running corner to corner in zones to space the floor. But he is not a sure shooter yet. He definitely hesitates some to set up his shot or, if he is not comfortable, take a step in and hits the long two.
Either way, he can be deadly from the corners. But there is still a comfort level he is gaining on that end. He is not going to be taking a lot of shots in traffic and is not a skilled driver yet.
Defensively is where he thrives though. He knows how to throw his weight around and is an excellent athlete. If he can make an impact anywhere immediately, it will be on the defensive end.
That is certainly a type for the Magic. They like players who already have a good defensive fundamentals and the physical profile to match. Green definitely fits that mold. And he is showing enough signs as a shooter that he could be an intriguing player, even if there is not a clear sign he is elite at anything quite yet.
Saddiq Bey, Villanova
The Villanova Wildcats have become a machine. The team under Jay Wright has become a juggernaut, winning two national championships in four years. Wright is one of the most sought-after coaches everywhere. And there are plenty of Villanova players dotting NBA rosters now.
The Wildcats were not about to win a national championship this year, but they certainly could have made a lot of noise thanks to their balanced roster and experience in big games. Villanova currently has that mystique.
And a lot of that is a credit to their coaching and the way they develop and build players.
Saddiq Bey is very much in that vein, stepping up in his sophomore year to average 16.1 points per game and shoot 45.1 percent from deep.
The 6-foot-8 forward has the look of an NBA player already. He is built up and able to finish through contact and above the rim. He used his strength a lot to overpower smaller players on drives and get to the basket.
More than that though, he is a pretty smart cutter. He has a good understanding of spacing and when to dive in for offensive rebounds or slash hard to the basket. This is important, especially if you are going to play off the ball.
So too is his shooting ability.
Bey was an incredibly efficient shooter at the college level. The question is whether he can repeat those results at the pro level. His shot is a little forced. He seemingly shoots from his chin and so his shot form could be a problem if his delivery and release remain slow.
His physical advantage will also be much lower at the pro level. He will not be able to bulldoze his way into the lane like he did at the collegiate level.
With his size, he might be better suited as a power forward than a small forward. That could help limit his exposure on the wing.
But ultimately his success comes down to whether he can hit from the outside or not.