Orlando Magic Daily
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Orlando Magic Daily 2023 NBA Draft Big Board 2.0: A focus on the Orlando Magic’s needs

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jeremiah Davenport (24) draws a charge foul against UCF Knights forward Taylor Hendricks (25) in the first half of a college basketball game between the UCF Knights and the Cincinnati Bearcats, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati.Ucf Knights At Cincinnati Bearcats Feb 4 0123
Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jeremiah Davenport (24) draws a charge foul against UCF Knights forward Taylor Hendricks (25) in the first half of a college basketball game between the UCF Knights and the Cincinnati Bearcats, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati.Ucf Knights At Cincinnati Bearcats Feb 4 0123 /
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The Orlando Magic have had a month to sit and think about their season now.

The confetti (no confetti was actually released) from Paolo Banchero’s Rookie of the Year award ceremony has died down. Players have had their chance for rest and relaxation and have already started sneaking training videos onto their social media.

It is truly the offseason.

That month since the end of the season has also given the team some time to reflect and think about the year that was. All with an eye on planning ahead. Because now the work of the offseason is getting set to begin.

NBA Draft season officially tips off this weekend with the G-League camp at the NBA Draft Combine and the NBA Draft Lottery this week. We compile the Orlando Magic’s big board as they prepare for the final push of draft prep.

Teams are already starting to work out draft prospects — most of the workouts announced publicly across the league have involved players expected to go in the second round if at all and, of course, the Magic have not announced or leaked any of their draft plans so far.

Next week is, of course, the NBA Draft Lottery. A big piece of the Orlando Magic’s offseason falls into place once they know where they pick as they hold the sixth-best odds to win the Lottery and the Chicago Bulls’ pick if the Bulls do not jump into the top four.

In conjunction with the Draft Lottery this week is the NBA Draft Combine. That will give teams their first real interaction with players as they will conduct interviews get official measurements on most of the top prospects and set up future workouts with the top prospects not participating in any of the week’s drills.

It is a busy week that officially kicks off the final stage of the draft process.

With the Lottery done, everything starts to come into focus for teams and how their offseasons will play out. And so we are gathering together to do our preparation for the draft.

We last did a mock draft a few weeks ago to look at how the draft might shake out without consideration for Lottery results. Now with the Combine ahead, we are going to focus on the Big Board.

This Big Board is a ranking of the prospects and how they fit with the Magic. This is not a look at the draft order or who will get picked where. This is about the Magic and their needs. And the descriptions in this Big Board will take special focus on how these players would fit in with the Magic.