3 Major effects on the Orlando Magic after the NBA Draft Lottery

It has been a long week since the Orlando Magic were eliminated from the Playoffs in Game 7. But the week and the season that preceded it have gotten everyone very excited for the season ahead.

Everyone knows the Magic have tons of cap room to spend—somewhere near or more than $30 million depending on what they do with several team options and non-guarantees for next year. It is an exciting offseason for the Magic with a chance to make some significant improvements through free agents.

It has only been a week, but already fans are dancing with trade ideas involving plenty of big names. Betting markets are already predicting the Magic as favorites to land both trade targets and free agencies. The rumor mill is spinning with the potential for the Magic to add some big-name free agents like Paul George or Klay Thompson.

Orlando's front office may still be trying to reset and send all the operations people away to reset after a longer-than-normal season.

The work though continues with the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago this week. There, the Magic will get their first chance to interview and review prospects directly in preparation for the NBA Draft on June 27 and 28 (the first round is the 27th, the second round the following day).

The last piece of that puzzle came into place Sunday afternoon. The NBA Draft order was set with the Atlanta Hawks defying the odds and winning the Lottery with a 3.0 percent chance to land the top pick. It is always chaotic when a team that reached the Play-In Tournament gets the top overall pick.

It gets even more chaotic considering the crossroads that Hawks team is at.

Orlando will not pick until No. 18 in the NBA Draft. It is a different kind of draft for the Magic. It has been a while since they were not in the Lottery and not looking for the best player to add to a collection of young players. Just as much as it has been a while since the team was trying to add to a team with growing Playoff aspirations—one of the goals from exit interviews was knowing how important homecourt advantage is for the Playoffs.

Now that the draft order is set and the future is in clearer focus there are a lot of questions for the Magic to begin to answer.

Everything for the offseason starts with the Draft. That is the first time that teams begin to think about offseason acquisitions. Draft day is when the transaction window starts going. Orlando is counting down to the draft now.

With the Lottery order set, there are plenty of questions that arise now for the Magic. While everyone is excited for free agency, the draft order has created some questions for the Magic to ponder for the next month.

3 major effects on the Orlando Magic after the NBA Draft Lottery

3. What do the Atlanta Hawks do now?

One of the big storylines for the offseason will be what the future holds for the Atlanta Hawks.

After another season in the Play-In Tournament after their big acquisition of Dejounte Murray a few years ago has left the Hawks at a seeming crossroads. The pairing of Dejounte Murray and Trae Young has had a lot of questions about it. The team just has not produced results.

Just about everyone in the league is expecting the Hawks to split their star pairing, if not start over from scratch like the Portland Trail Blazers last year. Their selection of Scoot Henderson seemed to suggest they were prepared to move on from Damian Lillard and begin a long-term rebuild.

The No. 1 pick would typically be a reason to start over. That is usually the foundation for a new team. But this is not a draft with a clear-cut No. 1. It is not entirely clear whether they would take Alex Sarr or Zaccharie Ricascher or whether they would go for another guard in Rob Dilingham or Nikola Topic.

Or whether even the Hawks should try to trade the No. 1 pick for some veteran help.

There are a lot of new questions the Hawks have to ask themselves now. And the No. 1 pick adds a new bit to the equation. One they certainly were not expecting to have before Sunday afternoon.

The Magic have been among the teams that were expected to be in the conversation for one of if not both of the Hawks' lead guards. The Magic certainly need a point guard to bolster their lineup and give them some more perimeter creation and stabilization for their offense.

Orlando was connected to Murray during the trade deadline. The team has been connected to Young, at least by fans, as an all-in move. The Orlando Magic are assumedly one of the teams watching the Atlanta Hawks' situation (keep an eye on the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers too).

The top pick though changes the calculus. It changes what the Hawks may believe they can do. It could be the thing that tips them into a fuller rebuild or makes them double down and believe they can still grow what they have.

Atlanta has the first pick and now the first decision in the NBA Draft. Everyone will be watching to see what they do with it. And what that means down the road.

2. Who else is looking to make a move?

Nobody really knows what to expect from the Orlando Magic in the Draft. The fact that this is not considered a particularly strong class from top to bottom and that the Magic likely have specific needs to get them over the hump after their Game 7 loss could mean there is a lot of movement.

There is expected to be a lot of star movement this offseason beyond the questions the Atlanta Hawks face with the top pick. And the Magic are expected to be among the teams hunting for a star.

There are plenty who believe the New Orlenas Pelicans, who hold the 21st pick, are willing to deal Brandon Ingram or further remake their roster. The Miami Heat might end up shopping Jimmy Butler. And there are always deals in the NBA that nobody sees coming.

With the draft order set, the teams that could be looking to trade and compete with the Magic to move around the Draft or move out of the Draft is now pretty set.

The Houston Rockets at No. 3 have been pretty aggressive the last year to add veterans to their roster and make a push for the Playoffs. They essentially had the season the Magic had last year, discovering their identity and being the last team eliminated from the postseason. Houston could be looking to add another veteran this offseason to expedite that further.

The San Antonio Spurs are also expected to be more aggressive this offseason with how good Victor Wembanyama was in his rookie year. Like the Magic, the Spurs have tons of cap room and are expected to hunt for free agents to help boost the team. With the Spurs holding the Nos. 4 and 8 pick, they have the potential to make a big splash on draft day.

Everyone in that group just outside the Lottery in the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic are likely going to be open to shopping their picks for more immediate gains. Who is going to be looking to move up into those picks and what could they look to get for selling those picks?

How about the Portland Trail Blazers? Would they preview their desires and plans for the offseason with Anfernee Simons and Malcolm Brogdon, both players the Magic are expected to target in trades, by taking another guard with the Nos. 7 and 14 picks?

With a lot of teams rising in this year's Lottery, how does that change their plans? We already talked about how different the Atlanta Hawks' outlook is now. The Rockets moving up to No. 3 changes their calculus for the offseason too.

The offseason storylines are still getting written and the Draft order is starting to line up the pieces for trades that will start a busy offseason.

1. Who are the Orlando Magic going to pick anyway?

The Orlando Magic were not going to be in the running for any of the top picks in the Draft while sitting at No. 18. They were not likely hunting to acquire players like Alex Sarr or Zaccharie Ricasher or Donovan Clingan. Even players they need in Dalton Knecht, Reed Sheppard, Nikola Topic or Rob Dillingham probably are not worth the expense of trading up in the draft to acquire.

If Orlando keeps its pick—and that is not completely a given—what is the team after in this Draft? Who are the players the team may target?

Already, there is a clear favorite among the draft experts for who the Magic are going to chase.

Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN have the Magic taking Colorado forward Tristan da Silva with the No. 18 pick. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic concurs with that idea.

Both sets of draft experts extol da Silva's baksetball IQ and playmaking as a bigger forward. That certainly sounds like it is the kind of type the Magic have historically gone for.

Da Silva averaged 16.0 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game and 2.4 assists per game at Colorado last year -- his senior year. He shot 49.3 percent from the floor and 39.5 percent from three. He added 83.5 percent free throw shooting.

Da Silva got better as the season went on, averaging 16.5 points per game in conference play and posting impressive and efficienty scoring performances to lead Colorado into the NCAA Tournament's First Four and an upset win over Florida in the first round.

He will not be the only player the Magic are keeping an eye on.

Their best point guard option coming out of this draft is Duke guard Jared McCain. If they need a knock-down shooter, they could be looking at Pitt guard Carlton Carrington. If they want a center, they could look at shot-blockers Yves Missi or Kel'el Ware.

There are plenty of development projects to look at too like G-League Ignite forward Tyler Smith or Miami guard Kyshawn George. And that is just scratching the surface of the options available to the Magic at No. 18.

Draft prep has already been well underway for the team. Now that work gets its final bows as the Magic prepare for the draft at the end of June.