2023 NBA Draft Orlando Magic Daily Big Board 1.5: After the Madness

The NCAA Tournament is over and with it most of the playing file on the prospects who will be in the NBA Draft is complete.

Teams and personnel will break down that film but begin to focus on the intangibles and personalities of the players as they prepare for the NBA Draft Combine in May and look ahead to the finalizing of the draft order to come with the Lottery.

The bulk of the draft prep work is then done. But there is still a lot to do to get ready for draft night. There is still a long way to go.

Still, while the confetti is still falling on UConn’s national championship victory, it is good to take stock of what the Magic’s draft board looks like and who they might consider taking.

The NCAA Tournament is over and it is time to update our Orlando Magic NBA Draft Big Board as the draft process moves toward its final phases with playing files completed.

Back when the NCAA Tournament started, the Magic were sitting in fifth in the Lottery standings with at least the hint they could get the best prospects outside of the top three.

The Magic have been winning a lot since and sit in eighth, although their decision to sit their starters suggests that is no longer the biggest aim for the team. They could end up anywhere from fifth still to eighth or even ninth if they win two more games the rest of this season.

Either way, the way this draft shakes out, Orlando is going to have to do their homework on a lot of players. And with the potential for two picks in the Lottery this year, the Magic have a lot of options in front of them.

This is an updated list from our first big board just before the NCAA Tournament. This ranking is based on who the Magic would value and rank on their board based on team fit, talent level and needs.

2023 NBA Draft Orlando Magic Big Board 1.5

The Top Guys

This is still not complicated. I mean just look at this:

There just are not many players who can physically even conceive of doing that, let alone actually performing it in an actual game. He is the runaway top overall pick and it should not be a debate.

Even with the Orlando Magic pretty loaded at the forward and center position, they will find a way to make him fit. He is that kind of player.

Truly generational potential.

Scoot Henderson did not have the year he was hoping for. The guy who was the surefire No. 2 overall pick suddenly found himself in a battle for that honor. And there was not much he could do to stop it.

Henderson is still a dynamic athlete and a potentially dangerous attacker and scorer. He is going to make whoever drafts him really happy.

But his downfall and his struggles this year only previewed the difficult season a lot of draft prospects had this year. Outside of Wembanyama, there does not seem to be a sure thing among the top guys. And everyone has some flaw to work on.

Henderson’s flaw comes from a disappointing year at the G-League Ignite and his poor shooting numbers. But he is still immensely talented and it is hard to deny his ability to put pressure on defenses.

Brandon Miller seemed set to climb up to No. 2 in the draft order. His size and his skill set seems like it is exactly what the NBA wants. He is a big forward with good positional versatility who can work the inside and the outside. And he defends well.

A long NCAA Tournament run should have set him up to be one of the top guys in this draft. And he still will be. But his poor NCAA Tournament adds a lot of questions.

The Crimson Tide, the tournament’s top overall seed, bowed out in the Sweet Sixteen. And Miller played really poorly, scoring a total of 28 points in three games (19 in the win over Maryland) on 8-for-41 shooting. It was not a good showing and he struggled against the big bodies San Diego State threw at him.

Three NCAA Tournament games should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. But it is not a good look for a player that a team is going to expect to do big things with the pick he’ll get taken with.

2023 NBA Draft Orlando Magic Big Board 1.5

The Next Tier

It is still a bit difficult to get a read on the Thompson twins. The league they played in at Overtime Elite was not particularly strong. A lot of people I have talked to describe it as a glorified pick-up game. Maybe it has a little more organization.

But that makes it hard to figure out how much to believe in the stats they accumulated.

Ausar Thompson, like his brother Amen Thompson, is a dynamic athlete. He may be more of a scorer at this point than his brother. That might make him more valuable to the Orlando Magic. But it is all still rough around the edges.

Amen Thompson is generally considered the better of the two. He is a dynamic point guard prospect, able to get into the lane. But he is still all athleticism. Even in OTE, he shot just 25.0 percent from beyond the arc.

For now, the athleticism trumps the shooting as he and his brother continue to develop their skills. But that is why the Magic are probably going to hold off with the team set at point guard and needing shooting more than anything else.

We all know the Orlando Magic need shooting. They need a knock-down 3-point threat to spread the defense out and give driving room to the hard drivers they have on the team. They need shooters. And it would not be surprising if the Orlando Magic use their draft focus on that.

Gradey Dick is probably the best shooter in this draft. And while there are certainly better players available, Dick seems to be the one that fits this team best.

Dick had a solid NCAA Tournament too. He scored 26 points in two NCAA Tournament games, although he had just nine on 3-for-9 shooting against Arkansas’ pair of NBA-ready defensive guards in Kansas’ loss.

Still, the Magic’s need for shooting is abundantly clear and Dick is the best shooter in this draft, capable of hitting shots on the move just as much as from a standstill.

Jarace Walker is the kind of player that could put a team over the top. His defensive skills are abundantly clear at this point. And he is already getting labeled as this draft’s Draymond Green — an undersized forward who plays bigger and with toughness that just connects a team completely together.

Walker was solid in the NCAA Tournament as Houston, like Alabama, bowed out quickly as a top seed. Walker scored 39 total points in three games (including 16 in the loss to Miami) and 27 total rebounds. Those are encouraging numbers and Walker definitely stood out in his quick trip to the Tournament.

The NBA will like Walker because he knows exactly what he is and is extremely effective at playing that role. With the Magic picking in this area, they will have to decide whether they will stick with the best player available or look for skills that fit their needs.

2023 NBA Draft Orlando Magic Big Board 1.5

Struggles and Questions

The poor performances of several draft prospects in the NCAA Tournament have forced everyone to reevaluate play from around the nation. There just are not a lot of players who are going to get reevaluated and looked at differently.

Cam Whitmore entered the season as one of the top prospects in his high school class. And that talent started to show out as the season came to the end. He has all the tools to be solid in the NBA. But things just did not quite click in Villanova to keep him in the top group.

Similar to Whitmore, Taylor Hendricks probably benefits some from not playing in the NCAA Tournament and struggling in the spotlight. Hendricks had a strong game in the NIT win over Florida — although he struggled with just nine points in the loss to Oregon.

Hendricks gives NBA teams a versatile forward who can work the inside and defend the interior just as easily as he can hit from the perimeter. He is a really interesting prospect.

Before the NCAA Tournament, no players had more to gain in terms of the Orlando Magic than Nick Smith Jr. and Keyonte George. They are both clear fits for the team at the guard position who would give the team some solid shooting in addition to strong defense. That two-way ability is extremely valuable.

But both Smith and George struggled mightily in the NCAA Tournament. And thus we have them falling some in our Big Board assessment (for now at least).

Smith scored 17 total points in three NCAA Tournament games on 6-for-23 shooting. It was not a good showing. The good news was he had his best game in the last one as he scored 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting with two 3-pointers in the loss to UConn.

George had the same issues. He scored only 27 total points in three games on 6-for-29 shooting. George really struggled in these big games. That should not erase a good season for him (just as the injury context is important for Smith). But it was not the best or most encouraging showing.

Anthony Black is definitely not a shooter. He made only 30 percent fo his 3-pointers this season entering the NCAA Tournament. And he, like his teammate Nick Smith, struggled in the tournament.

He was inefficient as he is not a shooter, but he did some heavy lifting for Arkansas that deserves some attention. Black scored 36 points in three games (including a 20-point game in their loss to UConn), although he shot only 10 for 30. His ability to get to the foul line stood out.

Black is still known more for his defense at this point. He is not going to be a great scorer when he gets to the league. But the talent is clearly there.

2023 NBA Draft Orlando Magic Big Board 1.5

The Risers

The biggest riser in this NCAA Tournament has to be UConn’s Jordan Hawkins. He is going to get the most benefit from winning a championship. He did not put on an undeniable show — and the illness that slowed him down in the Final Four was a big storyline at the end — but he was solid nonetheless.

For the season, Hawkins averaged 16.2 points per game while shooting 38.8 percent from deep on 7.6 attempts per game. He made 88.7 percent of his free throws. He was a high-volume 3-point shooter able to hit shots on the move pretty easily. And Dan Hurley runs an NBA-style offense which makes it easy to envision how Hawkins can fit.

His game took a step up in the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 16.3 points per game on 43.5-percent shooting overall and 50.0-percent shooting from deep (21 for 42 in the Tournament). Hawkins is not afraid to let it fly and it would not be surprising to see him continue to get a bump up in the draft process.

Kentucky had an up-and-down season and a lot of that is normal for them because of how generally young they are. Cason Wallace, Kentucky’s point guard, needed some time to develop. But he turned it on toward the end of the season, averaging 12.4 points per game and 4.8 assists per game with 1.8 steals per game in his final 13 games. The Wildcats are going to need strong play from Wallace to advance in this tournament.

Take your pick between Derreck Lively and Kyle Filipowski for centers from Duke. This is clearly not a draft rife with center — expect the Orlando Magic to hunt for a backup center somewhere.

I like Lively more here. He is the clearly more talented and higher-upside play even after averaging 5.2 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game in a disappointing season overall. He was still All-ACC Defensive team caliber.

Filipowski is maybe a bit more offensively skilled and polished right now averaging 15.1 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game. He too can have his moments defensively. But Lively is the guy who could hit big in the bigger picture.

Jalen Hood-Schofino was part of a pair of Indiana players who consistently put up impressive numbers but struggled to get Indiana off the ground this year. Schofino is a dynamic player who can score in a variety of ways and had some solid burst games in his freshman year (his teammate Trayce Jackson-Davis was racking up triple-doubles throughout the year).

Hood-Schofino averaged 13.5 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game and 3.7 assists per game. He had some big games, but he was a volume scorer with a lot of inefficiency.

His 33.3-percent 3-point shooting is the biggest concern for how he translates to the NBA. And his 77.6-percent shooting from three is not inspiring a ton of confidence that this will make a significant improvement.

Well, we know the Orlando Magic love their Michigan men. And so the guy to watch here is sharpshooter Jett Howard. Howard shot 36.8 percent on 7.3 3-pointers per game. Assumedly, he would have to do a lot less self-creating when he hits the NBA. At 6-foot-8, he has really good size too. Howard will not be in the NCAA Tournament with Michigan playing in the NIT. But he could be someone who can shoot up draft boards with a good performance and shooting prowess.

Another local guy! The Lake Highland Prep alum went to Ohio State and proceeded to score 16.3 points per game his freshman year while shooting 40.5 percent from three on 4.5 3-point attempts per game. He plays bigger than his size. But his 3-point shot has to continue to develop to have a good chance at the NBA. His 83.0 percent free throw percentage suggests he might.

We will be back with our first mock draft after the season ends and then do another big board before the NBA Draft Lottery on May 16.