Orlando Magic Daily 2022 NBA Mock Draft 3.0: The final countdown

Orlando Magic Daily 2022 NBA Mock Draft 3.0

The Back End

The Dallas Mavericks will be picking for the Houston Rockets here as part of the Christian Wood trade reported last week. And the Rockets could use this on a fairly big swing.

Nikola Jovic is a really interesting prospect as a 6-foot-10 forward who can playmake some and score off the dribble. His shot is still a bit of a work in progress but is certainly more than promising. He is a very skilled player. Someone worth some investment in.

There are still plenty of questions though. He was terrible defensively on the ball. But some of that might have been because he was used largely as a guard. He should not be defending guards in space. But Jovic has a lot of unrefined tools that could be pointed in the right direction very easily.

Jake LaRavia is another one of those players who seems like he will be a good culture fit with a winning team. He is a guy who thrives defensively and has developed into a good enough shooter to get defenses to be honest. LaRavia is solid because he just rules on defensive positioning and getting into passing lanes and creating some havoc.

Blake Wesley was a solid scorer for Notre Dame who showed hints of his ability to fit into a role as he moves off the ball. He averaged 14.4 points per game. There is a lot more to see in Wesley though. His 3-point shooting could still stand to improve, but he has the tools to make it if things break right.

The Golden State Warriors appear set to try to sell this pick — they do not need more guaranteed contracts. This could be another opportunity for the Magic to move up. Wesley is not who I would target here though. I would be looking at one of the centers — Jaylin Williams, Khalifa Diop, Chrisitan Koloko or Ismael Kamagate.

Of those centers mentioned above, Arizona’s Christian Koloko is the best. He could well become a solid backup center in the league. He plays with good energy and is able to rebound and defend.

Koloko averaged 12.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, taking home the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player award and an All-Defensive team nod. Those were all good signs for the way he improved and got better through the course of his three years at Arizona.

The question is just how much better will he get and will he be up to the challenge in the NBA.

Someone is going to take their chance on Jaden Hardy. He entered the season as the best of the prospects in the G-League Ignite class of 2022. He leaves with a lot of questions.

He had the green light to shoot and he shot a lot. And not particularly well. But that is what the G-League Ignite is for. They let him explore the boundaries of his game and he started to figure some things out. Some more time and development will help.

Jaylin Williams is an interesting prospect because he does not really fit any mold. Williams is a long center at 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan who relies more on positioning and taking charges than he does as a shot-blocker. He has the makeups of a great athlete, but he lacks a lot of the athleticism you would normally see from a center of his type.

Williams led the nation in charges last year. So there is a place for his energy and effort. But his offensive game will be limited unless he can further develop a jumper that he is at least willing to take.

The Orlando Magic might as well go back to the Michigan well here and grab Caleb Houstan. He may not even be here at No. 32 by the time the Magic pick. Houstan is starting to gain traction to go much higher in this draft.

Houstan averaged 10.1 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game. His real breakthrough came in the FIBA U19 tournament last summer when he helped Canada earn a bronze medal.

Houstan had a really inconsistent season. He struggled to get himself going at Michigan. But he can be a solid shooter and an athletic finisher. There is still a lot to like about him.

David Roddy is an intriguing prospect. He emerged as a big-time scorer at Colorado State. But getting there is the real story. He is a good line-drive finisher and a really impressive and improving 3-point shooter. His issue is that he is vastly undersized to play the forward spot. He gets after things defensively. But figuring out how he will play on the perimeter will remain a major challenge.

Expect to see some draft and stash candidates even early in the second round. Especially considering how many extra picks the Oklahoma City Thunder have. Ismael Kamagate is a talented player and a big center who seems somewhat likely to remain in Europe for a few more years. That could be valuable especially for a player as talented as Kamagate can be.

Do not expect the Orlando Magic to use all three of their draft picks in this year’s Draft. They just do not have the roster space for it. It is just as likely that they will look to grab a player they could park in the G-League or put on a two-way contract with one of these second-round picks.

That is where MarJon Beauchamp comes in for this pick. He was a good scorer for the G-League Ignite, who like Jaden Hardy was allowed to make a lot of mistakes and missteps. Beauchamp is a solid athlete and finisher. He has to improve his 3-point shot, but he has shown some decent playmaking.

Beauchamp is still a long-term project and it would be good to see him get more time in the G-League to fine-tune his game.