5 Orlando Magic trade targets from Lottery teams

The NBA Draft Lottery came and went and the Orlando Magic could not be bothered to care.

After four years between Playoff berths and three runs through the Lottery ringer near the top of the Lottery, that was certainly a relief. The Magic are entering the summer and the offseason in a position of power. They can seemingly do anything they want to improve the team.

A lot of the focus for the Magic has been on free agents. Rumors have connected the team to some big-name free agents like Paul George and Klay Thompson using the ample cap space the team has at its disposal this offseason.

It is easy to believe this is the way teams can use cap space. But cap room can be used in a number of ways.

For the first time in a long time, the Magic can act like buyers in the offseason. Their cap room is a tool to absorb extra salary in a trade. And the fact they can have it jump easily from $30 million to $40 million means they could go sign a major free agent and make a major trade if that is the direction the team wants to go.

Orlando should be hunting for opportunities to make deals—whether that is including the team's first-round pick this year or not. The Magic are a team that should be exploring every opportunity they can.

Lottery teams especially are teams in flux and transition. They are the kinds of teams that would be open to trades where they get very little in return to clear salary or would accept draft capital as the main asset in return. The Magic should be mining the worst teams in the league for hidden talent they could add to their roster.

Orlando has to enter this offseason with very specific goals to fill the team's needs. It can go shopping a bit, especially with Lottery teams, to figure out what it needs. And so we can begin doing that work with five players from Lottery teams the Magic should be looking at.