Orlando Magic Daily Mock Draft 2.0: After the ping pong balls drop
The Orlando Magic entered the NBA Draft Lottery with a lot of hope and optimism. They had the top odds to win the Lottery and a 52.1-percent chance to land in the top four.
President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman’s face said it all though when Mark Tatum unveiled the team would hold the fifth pick in the upcoming draft. There was a definite feeling of frustration. Luck did not bounce Orlando’s way.
Now the team goes into the draft with two top-10 picks, but the fifth pick in a Draft that feels like it has some strong stars at the top. Stars that remain beyond Orlando’s reach.
Of course, the draft is completely unpredictable. It might be narrative boredom after everyone pegged the same five guys to go in the top five — and then four of those five separating themselves from the fifth — but there could still be movement at the top as teams dive into their final draft boards.
The one thing everyone is sure of is there will be a lot of talk and rumors in the next month before the NBA Draft takes place.
The Orlando Magic are in a strong position with two top-10 picks. But they sem just beyond the reach of stars. We go through our community mock draft to predict how the draft will go.
And it sure feels like it is a safe bet the Magic are going to try to move up in this Draft too. It feels like the team has the assets to do so. Whether they or the team they are trading with has the willingness will be another question.
The final draft order is set though and we can begin to look at how the board might look as teams get into their final preparations. More importantly, we can begin to see how other teams might act and what options might be available to the Magic when it is their turn to pick at Nos. 5 and 8.
Like we did after the season ended, the Orlando Magic Daily staff is coming together to conduct our own mock draft and figure out what this draft will look like. We are taking on the roles of each team in the draft order and making our selections with commentary.
This mock draft has been conducted with the Orlando Magic Daily staff since the Lottery ended. We will have one more mock drat out Thursday with a final prediction of what will happen.
And we all have our eyes on who the Magic might pick.