Orlando Magic Daily Mock Draft 3.0: The day has arrived

The Rest of the First Round

Zeke Nnaji has started to get on the radar of more and more mock drafts and draft analysts. He is an energizer bunny at center who is able to rebound and defend well. He can step out and shoot a little bit. But he should not be counted on for more than just giving the team a bit of energy and spelling a starter.

If you are looking for a dark horse for the Orlando Magic to pick, it is probably Washington forward Jaden McDaniels. He checks off the wingspan portion of your bingo card. But his skill sare still very much indevelopment. He should be able to defend at a high level fairly quickly.

This pick appears to be headed to the Utah Jazz. The Jazz certainly value hard-nosed defenders. Josh Green is someone who fits that bill. His shooting needs a lot of improvement. But his athleticism and versatility defensively in the backcourt will get him a NBA look.

Cole Anthony was one of the top players in his recruiting class. But injury and a mis-matched North Carolina roster has severely depressed his stock and value. The questions surrounding Anthony are not about his talent. They are about his impact toward winning and whether a player who dominated the ball as much as he did can help a team win. Going to an established environment like Milwaukee might unlock that talent more.

Isaiah Joe seems to be another late public riser. He is a great shooter from Arkansas, shooting 37.8 percent from beyond the arc for his career (although just 34.2 percent last year when his usage increased dramatically). Joe is an intriguing player and going to a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder could be a good fit to develop and gets his feet wet.

Aleksej Pokusevski is the mystery man of this draft. He is an extremely agile and skilled 7-footer who is simply too skinny and raw to figure out what to do with. The league he playe din last year is not a competitive league. So nobody really knows what to expect from him. He is a perfect draft-and-stash candidate.

This pick appears set to head to the New York Knicks. Devon Dotson is a typical Kansas guard. He is solid, but not spectacular. He knows his role and his strengths and plays to them. But there is not a lot to write about here.

The Los Angeles Lakers under Rob Pelinka have done a good job drafting some undersized guards who play hard with athleticism and add some skill to the team. Arizona’s Nico Mannion is not quite this vision — he is a really poor shooter. But he flies around the court well and showed some playmaking ability. This is a good spot to take a flyer on him.

Minnesota center Daniel Oturu is a bouncy center who is light on is feet and can deefend well. He will not give a team much offensively. He averaged 20.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Thos eare impressive stats in the Big Ten. And he would be a solid role player.

Theo Maledon is a really solid point guard prospect. He knows how to use space and that makes up for any loss he has from his lack of athleticism. He just does not have a high ceiling being beyond a backup point guard in this league.

We will be back after the draft for complete analysis of who the Magic pick. Happy Draft Day!