4 early options for Orlando Magic’s pick from the Chicago Bulls

Corey Kispert, Gonzaga

One of the best players in college basketball this season, Corey Kispert helped Gonzaga to a 31-1 record before they lost out to Baylor in the national championship final.

A four year-player, he has gone from strength to strength during his time at college and shot an incredible 44 percent from three-point range this past year while averaging 18.6 points per game.

Three-point shooting continues to grow in importance in the NBA. The Utah Jazz are lethal from beyond the arc and sit with the best record in the league. Making or missing three-point shots is very often the difference between winning and losing a game.

That is what makes players like Kispert so important. Guys who do little else but shoot are becoming key focal points of teams and are being rewarded with big contracts, like Joe Harris and Davis Bertans. The 22-year-old is a similar type of player.

There are limits on how high he can go. His lack of raw athleticism places a cap on his upside and at 22, we are probably seeing him far closer to what he will be at his peak than a lot of other players in the draft.

Under-par performances in the final three March Madness games also raised some concerns. Kispert’s three-point shooting took a huge dip and athletically he struggled to compete as well as he had done previously.

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But for the Magic, a team who have long struggled to shoot well from deep and have just traded away the team’s best three-point shooter in Evan Fournier, Corey Kispert makes a lot of sense.

His impact would be felt right away. The team in its current format does not have enough perimeter threats which is hindering the offense. Kispert would change that.

He would be an excellent replacement for Fournier. Like Fournier, Kispert has also shown a comfortability with putting the ball on the floor and taking it to the rim despite lacking a quick first step.

There are a lot of talented wings and guards in this draft but Kispert is certainly one of the safer bets. His presence on the Magic would address one of the team’s long-standing weaknesses and accelerate the rebuild because of the experience he already has.

The danger, however, is that there are other higher risk but potentially higher reward players around him that might ultimately pay off more in the long run.