3 disastrous mistakes the Orlando Magic must avoid making this summer

3 disastrous mistakes the Magic must avoid making this summer.

2. Botch their draft picks

Assuming the ping pong balls fall correctly for the Orlando Magic in the coming weeks, they will have their own lottery pick, as well as the pick belonging to the Chicago Bulls as long as it is outside of the top four.

Dreaming of landing Victor Wembanyama is great, although that would come with its own problems to solve. Beyond that unlikely scenario unfolding though, the Magic absolutely need to nail the picks that they do get.

Whether it is taking a shooter or deciding that more depth at the wing position is the way to go, never has it been more crucial than it is now to get these picks right. It is the unspoken hard part in building what an organization hopes will one day be a contender.

Taking Paolo Banchero was, in hindsight, a no-brainer. Getting Franz Wagner with a pick belonging to the Bulls was a superb piece of business. For Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony however, the jury is still out on their long-term fit with the Magic.

But at least both of those players have shown they can contribute to the team at least off the bench. Drafting Wagner certainly lessened the sting of missing on Suggs potentially being a star with that fifth pick in 2021.

This is simply not a team or a franchise that can afford to get nothing from a high-value draft pick. Those are the decisions that set a team like the Magic back, even with the massive amount of young talent the team has already accumulated.

Going back even further and Mo Bamba, Jonathan Isaac (he should not be on this list, but his injury history means he sadly has to be), Mario Hezonja, Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton and even Aaron Gordon were all misses relative to where the franchise was at the time.

Hezonja especially gave the team very little in the end and did not even make it past his rookie contract. Neither did Payton, whom the Magic gave up future assets to acquire.

Luckily for fans, this front office has presided over the Nikola Vucevic trade that got them Wendell Carter, Franz Wagner and the likely pick this summer, as well as the fleecing of the Philadelphia 76ers for Markelle Fultz. They have a proven track record, but the pressure has never been greater to make the right selections.

However, their selection of Chuma Okeke with the 16th pick in 2019 has not quite panned out. Okeke has struggled to stay healthy and was drafted to defer a year while he recovered from a torn ACL. But he has struggled to stay in the rotation and is not likely to get a fresh contract.

Every front office makes mistakes and misses. And while drafting at 16 comes with lower stakes than drafting at six, they all hurt just the same.