Early offseason targets to fill Orlando Magic’s need on the wings
The Draft Option
The first option the Orlando Magic have to fill their shooting and wing needs will come in the draft. We already detailed several of the shooters the Magic could target. There are plenty of players who could be available at No. 15 should the Magic want to use the draft this way.
Florida State Seminoles guard Devin Vassell is at the top of everyone’s radar. The 6-foot-6 sharpshooter averaged 12.7 points per game and shot 41.5-percent from beyond the arc for a Florida State team that would have likely gone deep into the NCAA Tournament.
Other players to look out for include Vanderbilt Commodores guard Aaron Nesmith and Villanova Wildcats forward Saddiq Bey.
Orlando Magic
Nesmith was one of the best scorers in the nation last year, averaging 23.0 points per game and shooting 52.2 percent from deep before a fracture in his foot ended his season in December.
Bey is a bigger forward — 6-foot-8, 215 pounds — but he averaged 16.1 points per game and hit on 45.1-percent of his 3-pointers. He has great size although there are questions about his ability to stick with the quicker guards on the perimeter. He is really an undersized stretch 4 or small forward.
The Magic have plenty of those.
The options in the draft are going to be fairly slim. And drafting at 15 (or thereabouts), there is no guarantee the Magic can get a player that can contribute immediately. And that is what the Magic want from this position. it is an immediate need.
Since Jeff Weltman took over the team, he has been willing to be extremely patient with rookies. The Magic have used their draft picks to this point to take the best player on the board and the player who best fits their overall philosophy. They do not seem to waver on this.
The Magic have not drafted on need. Even their pick last year after making the playoffs was one that had an eye on the longer-term future. Chuma Okeke was deferred a year simply because they thought he was the best player on their board and they could afford to wait a year for him to recover.
That is to say, the Magic have never really used the draft to fill any immediate needs.