The Orlando Magic have their best draft since Dwight Howard left

The shock of all shocks.

Not only were the Orlando Magic able to get Jalen Suggs with the fifth pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, they were able to select Michigan’s standout forward Franz Wagner. The team grabbed two of the best prospects in the Draft, establishing an identity for a young rebuilding team and putting two critical players in place.

Orlando had two top-10 picks for the first time in franchise history and, if post-Draft grades are to be believed, the team did not waste them.

Suggs’ falling to the team was a gift after he was widely considered to be a shoo-in to go in the top four of a celebrated draft class. He gives the team a measure of star power that was easy to feel inside the Amway Center.

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This is the best draft class for the organization since Dwight Howard’s departure back in 2012. The Magic were able to select two top college players within the first eight picks. It was a wonderful night in Central Florida.

A night that sets up the next decade of the Magic if all goes well. It certainly establishes what this phase of the rebuild will be about.

The Orlando Magic came away from Draft night with two key players who can set and define the next decade of the team. For the first time since Dwight Howard left, the Magic had a home-run draft.

Howard’s departure left the franchise in shambles 10 years ago and had the organization scrambling to make adjustments. It put indescribable pressure on the organization to rebuild fast within the draft because the Magic were a top-four team in most years in the Howard era.

The way Howard departed left the Magic bereft of assets and quality players, forcing the team to restart from scratch and rely on the Draft to rebuild. Orlando had to draft well to succeed.

But the Magic made selections that were head-scratchers in hindsight and even at the time.

Orlando Magic

Orlando finished second in one of the worst drafts at the time, making a solid selection in Victor Oladipo. Then Lottery luck seemed to haunt them as they fell to fourth and missing out on a then-believed superstar trio in Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid. They selected Aaron Gordon and traded up to draft Elfrid Payton.

The next year, the Magic landed fifth, just missing out on the coveted Kristaps Porzingis and selecting Mario Hezonja.

None of these players hit on stardom during their tenures in Orlando. Meanwhile, the team stuck with conventional wisdom in each of those drafts, missing out on superstar players like Giannis Antetokounpo (selected 15th overall in 2013), Nikola Jokic (41st in 2014) and Devin Booker (13th in 2015).

Orlando neither got the stars at the top of the draft, nor the sleepers in the middle and latter parts of the draft.

On top of this, Orlando would also trade away super All-Stars Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo together on draft night in 2016. The 2018 Draft saw the Magic fall a pick behind Trae Young at No. 5 and then select Mohamed Bamba over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Draft night has not been a good night for the Magic in the last decade. And this long list of shortcomings and outright failures derailed any chance for the team to grow and build.

But this draft felt different. So much so that even the fans from other organizations around the league are impressed with the way that the Magic drafted last night.

It seems as if nobody has questions about the Magic draft selections especially getting a great collegiate player like Jalen Suggs who was clearly the best player on a Gonzaga team who were undefeated until the NCAA championship game.

Also grabbing a guy like Franz Wagner, the brother of current Magic center Moritz Wagner, was a great pick at eight because he was also a proven leader on his college team. These two players should become the cornerstones of this organization in the years to come.

Now, as Suggs told Wagner in the back rooms at Barclays Center on Thursday, it is time to get to work.

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That work will start with new head coach Jamahl Mosley, whose job will be to make sure these two rookies are comfortable with their new roles as a professional.

And then it will trickle down to these draft picks.

Wagner’s input to his college team has been recognized by his peers as well as organizations around the league. Most draft boards had him as a top-10 pick, while most draft boards had Jalen Suggs in the top four.

Wagner was labeled a stretch-4 type of player who shot 34 percent from beyond the arc in his final season as a Wolverine. He also pulled down 6.5 rebounds per game and averaged three assists per game. He is a great second selection for a team in the middle of a rebuild, able to plug in anywhere. He is considered one of the best defensive players in this draft.

The two rookies look to be a perfect fit as their games seem to complement each other.

Both can play on the perimeter and both shoot better than 45 percent from the field. This duo can be a potential problem for defenses in years to come and a potential problem for offenses trying to attack them.

But more importantly, is their acceptance of their roles in an organization like Orlando. They seem to want that pressure of building a team from scratch. Which is never an easy thing to do and will take a lot of patience and persistence.

They seem to be well aware of where the franchise is today, with no star players with the core of the team (Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon) being traded away before the trade deadline. Nevertheless, these two rookies are embracing their future in Magic blue.