4. Downhill Attacker: Jared McCain, Duke
At times, it felt like the Orlando Magic were banging their heads against the wall during their Playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That speaks to how one-dimensional the Magic's offense can be and how little space the team could find with such little shooting.
But it also spoke to how little confidence the Magic, at times, had to do anything else but give the ball to Paolo Banchero and let him try to crash his way to the basket. Banchero found a way to make that successful—and the Magic did a better job of using Jalen Suggs or Franz Wagner to initiate actions and get him the ball.
But getting good spray-out shots or creating secondary drives to set up Paolo Banchero or Wendell Carter for easier shots around the paint proved difficult. Jalen Suggs was not a good driver—although his 6.1 drives per game in the Playoffs was up from 4.5 per game in the regular season, according to data from Second Spectrum.
Orlando needs another guard who can get downhill and pressure the defense. The more players the Magic have who can drive to the rim, the easier it will be to attack and score.
That is why the team is looking for a point guard overall. And while the Magic seem more likely to fill that guard need through free agency, they can look to the draft for a few options.
The biggest one is Duke guard Jared McCain.
McCain averaged 14.3 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game. He shot 46.2 percent from the floor and 41.4 percent from three (on 5.8 attempts per game). The 3-point shooting stands out most and is one of the reasons he has long been on the Magic's draft list.
But McCain is excellent at getting to the basket. And despite a perceived lack of athleticism, he is an expert at finishing over bigger players. Whether that translates to the NBA will be the big thing that determines his ultimate NBA success.
But McCain is someone who can get downhill and to the paint. That checks off a box for what the Magic need from the guard spot. McCain would be a solid choice to help boost the Magic.