Orlando Magic Daily
Fansided

Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 38: While we wait

By Philip Rossman-Reich

The Orlando Magic are eager for Nikola Vucevic to make his return to the court. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
The Orlando Magic are eager for Nikola Vucevic to make his return to the court. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 8
Next
Devin Vassell, Florida Stat eSeminoles
Devin Vassell has the perfect mix of size and length to go with his shooting to be a solid fit for the Orlando Magic. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Draft Options

From John Poulsen, via Facebook

"Although I hear some expect not to be surprised to see the Magic make a trade this summer but I read your article on the draft. Of the three options trading pick 15 for a veteran, staying at 15 or trading up in the lottery is it way too early still for you to get a sense which of the possibilities you think is most likely? I think it might cost a lot to move up. I doubt they take a frontcourt player this time around and would target a shooter if they stay at 15."

I have gone over this in another question, but I think it is really important to say them a bit clearer. And not only that, it ties in the bigger question of how the Magic find their star and build their roster.

Undoubtedly draft picks are still a really valuable asset. First-round picks give teams four years of cost-control over a potentially talented player. They are really valuable assets. They do not hurt if you get them wrong and they are exceptionally valuable when you get them right.

But young players are tricky too. You do not want too many of them on the roster or else you could find your team making a ton of mistakes. The Magic still want to win after all. And this is still a fairly young team.

I think the Magic have a lot of good options with where they are picking that could fill some needs. So keeping the pick is definitely a good option, of course depending on how the draft shakes out. This is a middle-heavy draft and the talent level is not too different from the mid-Lottery into the late teens where the Magic are picking.

Orlando should feel comfortable with taking a player at their spot. And there are a few guys they could stash in the international market if they wanted to go that route and defer their pick for a second straight year.

Trading up is not the most attractive option for me. The top of this draft is very flawed and there is not a clear-cut superstar. Especially for a team like the Magic that already has some playoff bona fides.

What the Magic absolutely should do is explore ways to use their pick as a sweetener to make a bigger move and solidify the roster overall.

If the middle of the draft is pretty strong, the Magic could look to use their pick plus another player to go after a bigger name player. This could be the opportunity or the right time to push some chips to the center of the table. Especially if they anticipate Evan Fournier opting out of this contract and walking away in free agency.

I think most likely the Magic are not quite ready to push in fully, at least. They might make a secondary move and it might involve the draft pick, but I think the Magic will still be fairly cautious. I think they view this pick as still important to building up the team. And they might view the potential of Fournier walking as a chance to push younger players into leadership roles.

Or they might hope to bide their time for another year to get to that point.

Either way, it seems like the Magic are coming to a decision point in their development program.