The clock is starting to tick for the Orlando Magic.
They have less than two weeks to go before the NBA Draft on June 23. And it is getting to be crunch time for their decision-making process.
Fans have patiently waited for word of when the top prospects would come through Orlando for those all-important interviews and potential workouts as the Magic try to suss out who they will take with the first pick.
The first of those critical interviews came Thursday when Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr., the betting favorite to be the top pick, made his way to the Amway Center and met with the media. Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero are surely on their way too.
The Magic reportedly already had Iowa forward Keegan Murray in town. Perhaps Jaden Ivey and Shaedon Sharpe are on the way as the Magic do what everyone anticipates — and the Magic said they would — the team is casting a “wide net.”
It is an exciting time.
The clock is ticking closer and closer to the NBA Draft. With two weeks to go, we reset our Big Board for the Orlando Magic.
To this point, the Magic have worked quietly bringing in largely players they would consider for the second round or deeper in the draft. That is part of the process of filling out their draft profiles as they prepare for players to enter the league.
Still, it is all leading up to this week and the main prospects who are making their way through. And the Magic will then close themselves up again for their final considerations before they have to make their decision.
They will likely be doing — and redoing — the exercise I will be doing here.
Now that we have sat with some of the prospects and have a better sense of both what the Magic are looking for and what to make of these prospects, it is time to update our Big Board once again.
This is a ranking of the prospects according to how the Magic might view the prospects, taking into consideration both the talent at hand and the Magic’s needs.
Obviously there are still a few weeks to review tape. But we are in crunch time now as the countdown to the draft is truly on.
And the Magic will have to get their last bits of information to seriously answer the big question: Who goes No. 1?