Orlando Magic 2020 NBA Draft Big Board: One month to go

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Saddiq Bey was a bulldozing forward with Villanova and his shooting makes him even more intriguing. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

We are officially one month away from the NBA Draft. It is time to marshall the Orlando Magic’s draft board as they prepare for the big day.

The NBA season ended a week ago. The Disney campus has emptied. The arenas have been dismantled and the Los Angeles Lakers are still celebrating their title.

There is still a lot to get done before the 2021 season begins — namely collective bargaining to set the rules and salary cap for the season along with how long, when to start and on and on and on. But the offseason will begin and the teams will move closer to next season.

The next step in the process is the NBA Draft.

Teams everywhere had an extra five months to prepare for this draft. Assistant GM Matt Lloyd admitted on the Down the Road Podcast that they were guarding against paralysis by analysis when it came to the prospects thanks to the extra time. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said after the season ended that his team had largely done its draft work, tiering players into different subgroups as they set up their draft board.

The NBA Draft process is kicking into a new gear now. The league is allowing teams to conduct individual workouts with up to 10 players — only a prospect’s family and agent are allowed in (and they all have to be tested thoroughly under the NBA’s guidelines). These individual workouts will give teams the chance to coach and interact with players in real time rather than just conducting teleconference interviews.

This is an important stage in the draft process. The last little bits that will determine who the Magic take with both the 15th and 45th pick.

With the step the Magic are in for their rebuild — on the borderline of the playoffs and trying to improve — hitting on the draft in the middle of the first round is imperative. Adding another rotation-capable player in the second round.

This is an important draft indeed.

There is still one month to go to get all the final preparations done. One month to finalize that list that has been likely sitting in the Magic’s draft room and pored over every day for the last five months — and more.

We have done the mock draft already — about a month ago. That is a prediction of how the draft is likely or possibly will go. It is meant to predict who a team like the Magic would pick and present something resembling a real scenario.

But that is hardly useful. Teams go through their own mock drafting process. But what matters to them is their boards and their rankings.

This is an attempt to do that. This is the Magic’s big board.

This is a look at how the Magic should have their draft board set up, taking into account the talent and potential of the prospects and the team needs. These are my rankings based on my evaluation of the prospects and my evaluation of the Magic’s needs.