2023 Orlando Magic Daily Mock Draft 1.5: Magic fans take a stab

The NBA Draft Lottery is now less than two weeks away. A lot of the future for the Orlando Magic will come into focus as will exactly how they will play their offseason. Everything will fall into place soon.

This is just the first question to answer.

Some more Lottery luck will mean adding some more highly talented players but likely allowing some patience to let young players integrate into the league. A pick in the right spot or the draft shaking out a certain way could open the door for trades.

There are just a million directions the team could go in as the Draft gets closer and closer. It is too hard at the moment to predict what the Magic might do or what the right path is.

The Orlando Magic’s offseason can go in a million different directions. So we are turning the first choice to you in our latest Mock Draft, we let Magic fans answer who the team should pick.

Orlando has a lot of avenues open to it. Not just because the team has two potential Lottery picks in the upcoming draft, but because it has a promising young team eager to grow and cap room to make some significant additions to the team in free agency.

Everyone is excited for what the Magic are going to do.

But it still all starts with draft night. And while it is still too early to try to predict any trades that might happen — and the Magic should be active looking to move around come June — it is still a good time to look at what the Magic might do on draft night.

We already took our first stab at the draft with our first mock draft. Probably leaning too much on needs and not enough on how the big boards for teams might actually shake out, we had the Magic coming away with shooting in Gradey Dick and a potential offensive dynamo in Brice Sensebaugh.

That got some mixed reviews from our followers, with the assurance that it was just a first run-through. There will be more mock drafts and evaluations to come.

But at this early stage, it felt like a good time to turn the question over to our audience. What would you do if you were the Magic in the draft at each position they could select before the Lottery?

Using our initial mock draft as a guide, we turned the question to you to make your own mock draft by voting in a series of online polls asking: Who should the Magic draft at this pick?

The results that follow may still represent that draft order as it is set before the Lottery, but it is very much a thought experiment of who the Magic would take at each level and layer of the Draft.

This is our community Mock Draft.

2023 Orlando Magic Daily Mock Draft 1.5

Top Guys

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Victor Wembanyama

No pick is likely going to be as easy as this one will be. Victor Wembanyama is the runaway selection to be the top pick almost everywhere you go. The 7-footer is one of the most unique prospects to come through the draft process.

The response to the poll was more of a, “Are you seriously asking this” and “Who are these people not voting for Wembanyama?”

Even with a loaded frontcourt, Magic fans know they cannot pass up on a talent like this one. And that is why the Magic would take Wembanyama first and not think twice about it.

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Scoot Henderson

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Brandon Miller

Scoot Henderson was the overwhelming pick to go second in our community mock draft. Overwhelming.

And for good reason. He is a dynamic guard who would seemingly slot in perfectly with the vision the Orlando Magic have for their future and even perhaps fit in with this roster. He can play with speed and stop and hit his shots effectively.

Henderson should be second on our big board at the moment.

But the interesting thing is that the comments all seemed to come out strong for Brandon Miller. Everyone who noted him said he would fit better with the Magic because of his shooting even though it would overload the Magic with forwards and likely force Franz Wagner to play guard.

Miller is a dynamic forward though and there is good reason he is getting some buzz to go second in the draft, especially after Henderson struggled through his season with G-League Ignite.

It would seem there would be some debate if the Magic end up with the second pick and a really tough choice over what direction the Magic would go. Even if the team would come to the same obvious conclusion our readers did.

2023 Orlando Magic Daily Mock Draft 1.5

The Draft Begins

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Ausar Thompson

The top three in this draft are pretty well set. The real challenge for a lot of people as they begin to assess this draft class comes with the fourth pick and what the team there might do.

That goes especially for the Orlando Magic. Because after that top three, you run into players who are extremely talented, but also extremely flawed.

The Thompson twins — Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson — are going to be a flash point for how teams evaluate potential and talent over current ability. And how much they trust what they saw in Overtime Elite. Nobody is quite sure what to make of it.

Amen Thompson won our community poll fairly easily. I have Ausar Thompson rated ahead of Amen Thompson on my Magic big board because Ausar is a better shooter at this point, although not as elite athletically. He is still pretty good, that should not be viewed as a knock on him.

But I got a lot of comments like the one above where readers were a little gunshy about taking both Thompson twins. Neither are great shooters and get by on their athleticism. That kind of player should only raise more questions considering the league they played in did not exactly test their flaws (Ausar was the MVP of the league for his shooting, so that is something?).

What also came up at this juncture is that readers felt limited by the few options I could provide on Twitter’s poll function. For that, I apologize. We got votes at this point for Jarace Walker, Taylor Hendricks and Anthony Black.

That speaks to how deep this draft can be and how unenthused some might be about what these players can become.

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Cam Whitmore

With the way the NBA Draft Lottery works, the Orlando Magic cannot land the fifth pick. So did our voters game the system to make sure the players they want the Magic to have are still available?

Not quite. You can tell this is still a close vote of a lot of different players.

The voters ultimately went with Jarace Walker with a narrow victory. Walker is an undersized big but is incredibly smart as a basketball player. He is able to make plays off the dribble and find guys off the bounce while finishing around the rim.

He may not quite fit everything the Magic need because he is not a great shooter. But he is going to slot in really well with an experienced team. The Portland Trail Blazers are indeed a good landing spot for him.

2023 Orlando Magic Daily Mock Draft 1.5

The Orlando Magic’s Pick

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Gradey Dick

The Orlando Magic’s biggest need is shooting.

There is no getting around. There is no debating this. There is no denying this.

Everything Orlando adds to its roster either needs to add to the team’s overall toughness and physicality or add to its lack of offensive shooting and spacing.

The debate then when it comes to the Draft is where to get that shooting. While our poll has the Magic taking Gradey Dick from Kansas, perhaps the Draft’s best shooter, there were a lot of comments like these:

Admittedly, this is where I sat as well when I was doing my first mock draft. There were a few people who looked at this value proposition too.

Not just saying the Magic should rely exclusively on free agency to find their knockdown shooter, but acknowledging there are a host of shooting options available with the Orlando Magic’s second pick that they are likely to get from the Chicago Bulls.

This is a space where fans have pitched filling in that backup forward need with Taylor Hendricks or Jarace Walker.

I had a whole segment in my first mock draft taking Walker before I stopped myself and said, “Don’t overthink this.”

It feels like overthinking picks is the trap you always fall into. Getting too deep into what a player cannot do instead of highlighting and buying into what they can do.

The Magic probably should keep things that simple and take the best shooter on the board here. Especially if it is Dick, who has separated himself from the other shooters in this draft class.

I am usually a fan of drafting talent. Drafting on need alone can narrow your vision and keep you from getting that potential star that falls deep into the draft.

Seeing Cam Whitmore on the board should give some pause. Whitmore is a dynamic scorer who was asked to do too much for a poor Villanova team last year. Once he got going, he really lifted his team up.

And seeing Ausar Thompson here (I have taken Ausar Thompson at No. 6 in other mock drafts) should also give me pause. He too has star potential and is a dynamic athlete who can finish at the rim. But his shooting skill is a little more developed than his brother and he could grow into a solid outside threat. That dynamism probably tips the scales in his favor.

But Dick would be an incredible pick here too. He would come in and help this Magic team tremendously just based on the skill that he already has.

2023 Orlando Magic Daily Mock Draft 1.5

Other Candidates

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Amen Thompson

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Taylor Hendricks

The decisions are going to get tougher and the Orlando Magic’s most likely pick by the odds is the seventh pick. So fans seem to be pretty pleased with the options they will have.

Gradey Dick could easily fall to this spot and give the Magic the shooter they need. Ausar Thompson or Cam Whitmore could be high-potential scorers who can continue developing their shot to add to this core. Or there is the favorite hometown forward in Taylor Hendricks.

Hendricks has been getting a lot of support as fans begin to think about gaming this draft.

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Anthony Black

The Orlando Magic have several needs — both positionally and skill-based.

With Jonathan Isaac’s future still somewhat uncertain and Chuma Okeke struggling, there is definitely a need for another big. And so a lot of fans throughout this exercise have mentioned the desire to draft a big wing with the first pick and focus on shooting with the second pick.

That might explain a vociferous group that favors a player like Whitmore or Hendricks with the first pick over a sharpshooter like Dick. It certainly makes clear the options ahead of this team.

Cam Whitmore is the surprise drop in our draft (I had Amen Thompson dropping in my first mock draft to some criticism). Someone always drops. Good luck predicting who it will be.

But it is hard to see Whitmore being that guy. He averaged 12.5 points per game and shot 34.3 percent from beyond the arc.

His supporters would say that he had to work on the ball more than he should and that his catch-and-shoot numbers are better. His detractors would note he averaged 70.3 percent from the foul line. That is usually a sign that shooting will not translate to the NBA.

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Jarace Walker

With the final pick before we really dive into the Chicago Bulls’ pick, the people have voted on Anthony Black, the defensive-minded guard from Arkansas. Although there were plenty of protestations for his teammate, Nick Smith, a more proven scorer although he dealt with injuries throughout his lone year at Arkansas.

These votes are getting narrower and it seems very possible the Magic will be pleased with who they get. Especially if they know they have a second pick in their back pocket.

But it is worth noting here that Twitter has me limited to four choices in these polls. There are obviously more than four options. And the Magic are certainly looking at players not listed here like Keyonte George or Jordan Hawkins — popular choices among Magic fans.

As a point of order then, I selected players for this poll based off my own version 1.0 mock draft and reviewing the best available from ESPN. This is an inexact science.

2023 Orlando Magic Daily Mock Draft 1.5

Pick No. 11

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Brice Sensabaugh

There was a point during the season when Keyonte George seemed like the runaway pick for the Orlando Magic at their first pick.

George was leading Baylor and scoring seemingly at will. He could attack the basket and hit from the outside. It seemed to be exactly what the Magic would want from a wing.

His inefficiency could get explained away by playing an outsized role as the main creator on Baylor, something he would not do at the NBA level. It seemed like a good fit.

But George had holes to fill. He struggled in a lot of marquee games. And then he plateaued and struggled to end the season.

George finished the year averaging 15.3 points per game but shot just 37.6 percent from the floor and 33.8 percent from beyond the arc. He hit on 79.3 percent of his free throws. But in February and March, he averaged 11.5 points per game on 36.9 percent shooting overall.

That has caused him to slip down draft boards significantly. To where he is likely available for the Magic’s second pick. And perhaps even someone the Magic pass on.

Our voters did not. Perhaps because I did not have UConn sharpshooter Jordan Hawkins on our poll. There were more than a few requests for that. And he is likely to go next because of that.

What should be clear then is not necessarily who the Magic pick — although George would be a solid pick for those reasons — but the skill fans want the team to take.

It would seem that there are at least a few shooting options available and the Magic will likely find their shooter(s) in this Draft.

As things stand in this mock draft, the Magic come away with Gradey Dick and Keyonte George, two shooters who should be able to give the Magic a key skill that the roster desperately needs.

2023 Orlando Magic Daily Mock Draft 1.5

The Rest of the Lottery

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Keyonte George

Fans are a little angry with me for not including Jordan Hawkins until this pick.

And they should be a bit angry. He fits the Orlando Magic a lot better than a lot of other players as a movement shooter with a good body to boot. His only downside it seems is his age and his potential lack of upside.

But Hawkins proved himself in UConn’s run to the NCAA championship last year. There is no reason to think that he would not be able to develop into a killer 3-and-D player or even just a solid shooting, offensive weapon.

Everyone recognizes and understands the Magic need shooting more than anything else. So it is natural to want every shooter the team can get. And Hawkins would be a fantastic addition at this spot.

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Nick Smith

One of the big concerns about this Draft class — and one of the reasons why trading around is not a likely option for the Orlando Magic — is that there is a severe drop-off in desirable talent. A lot of the players in even the Lottery have clear flaws that will be tough to overcome.

So, it is not surprising that there were a lot of requests for trades throughout the draft process (not to mention this already young Magic team probably does not need any more youth). This is the first time, that I kind of had to agree with it.

There is a lot of buzz though about Kentucky’s Cason Wallace. He is someone who can get to the rim and finish. His stats are just really meager.

Mock Draft 1.0 Pick: Jordan Hawkins

Our Mock Draft concludes with the selection of Lake Highland Prep alum Brice Sensabaugh. He was my pick for the Orlando Magic’s second pick in Mock Draft 1.0 as a higher-upside scorer and attacker with good outside shooting.

Sensabaugh has a lot of rough edges to refine when he gets to the leak, but he has a good body for the NBA and is a capable shooter.

That will do it for our community mock draft. We will be back very soon with an updated Big Board ahead of the NBA Draft Lottery on May 16.