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Orlando Magic Draft Evaluation: Redrafting the Jeff Weltman Era

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Jeff Weltman has collected some solid players for the Orlando Magic through the draft. But is still seeking the big fish. (Photo by Gary Bassing/NBAE via Getty Images)
Jeff Weltman has collected some solid players for the Orlando Magic through the draft. But is still seeking the big fish. (Photo by Gary Bassing/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Wesley Iwundu, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz
Wesley Iwundu is starting to get more playing time and the Orlando Magic hope that will increase his production. (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Second Round Picks

For any rebuilding team, second-round picks end up playing bigger roles. They are added young assets who typically get a chance. For a team like the Magic who need to find cheap talent wherever they can get it, these are not picks to be wasted.

If there is an area where Jeff Weltman has earned some criticism for his drafting it has been in devaluing some of his late picks — trading the No. 25 pick for nothing with a productive player like Kyle Kuzma on the board and taking similar players with his second-round picks.

Those are small arguments to be had though. Nothing too serious or threatening to his job. Clearly Weltman has not come out with the absolute best outcomes in his draft, but he has drafted well.

Finding talent in the second round is vital though for a team like Orlando. And it will be again as Orlando looks to make the most of its pick in this year’s draft.

Wesley Iwundu has clearly outperformed what you might expect from the 33rd pick.

A pick that high in the second round is still essentially a first-round talented player. Wesley Iwundu was seen as a bit of a reach, but if the Magic’s budding style of taking a player with length and defensive chops.

He made an impact pretty immediately as a solid bench defender. His ability to develop and hit a 3-point shot was key int he Magic’s run to the playoffs last year.

Among his draft class, Iwundu is 20th in win shares, 39th in box plus-minus and 50th in VORP. In some sense, Iwundu has outplayed his draft position. In others, he has not.

With Iwundu entering restricted free agency this offseason and his inability to carve out a certain space in the rotation — the Magic acquiring James Ennis at the trade deadline was a pretty big statement on this front — it does not look like Orlando plans to retain its second-round pick.

Melvin Frazier has played virtually no minutes. It is already looking like he could be on his way out with the Magic needing to create roster space both for Chuma Okeke and whomever they pick in the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft.

That is an opportunity wasted no doubt. Melvin Frazier played essentially the same position and had the same physical profile as Iwundu. Even if Frazier was the best player on the Magic’s board that year, they should have seen how difficult it would have been for him to get minutes if Iwundu panned out.

Iwundu certainly panned out better than you would expect for a player taken with the 33rd pick. But he was not a home-run pick either. There may not have been a home-run pick at that spot, however.