5 takeaways for the Orlando Magic from the NBA Draft Combine
5 takeaways for the Orlando Magic from the NBA Draft Combine
5. Wingspan Warriors
After one of Jeff Weltman's first drafts as president of basketball operations for the Orlando Magic, Weltman sauntered into the media room at the Kia Center and joked: "Long night, long players."
It seems the Magic are also in on the joke that the Magic tend to look at the list of players with the longest wingspans and pick the biggest one. Or the player with the biggest differential between their height and their wingspan.
Just go through the list of Jeff Weltman picks: Jonathan Isaac, Mo Bamba, Wesley Iwundu, Melvin Frazier (the longest wingspan among guards in his draft class), Chuma Okeke, Franz Wagner and Caleb Houstan.
Orlando's whole philosophy has been built on getting players who can play bigger than their height and to use length and versatility to build one of the top defenses in the league.
Wingspan is not everything. But the old adage of, "You can't teach size," rings true with the Magic draft philosophy.
And so there is an annual pilgrimmage to the wingspan page on the Draft Combine list to figure out who the Magic might be drafting.
A lot of fans have put some focus on Zach Edey.
The nearly 7-foot-4 center is a two-time Naismith College Player of the Year Award winner and put up gaudy stat lines at Purdue the last two years. He is every bit of his height, measuring with a Combine-best 7-foot-10.75 wingspan along with an impressive 9-foot-7 standing reach.
Edey may still have questions about how he fits with mobility and as a scorer in a league that demands more versatility from its centers (Edey hit 60.0 percent of his shots off the dribble in one drill). But he measured out exactly how everyone expected.
Indiana center Kel'el Ware measured out with a 7-foot-4.5 wingspan and 9-foot-4.5 standing reach at a height of 6-foot-11.75 without shoes. Ware has been among the center prospects the Magic should be looking at (he beat out Yves Missi who measured at a 7-foot-2 wingspan and a height of 6-foot-10.75 without shoes).
Colorado's Cody Williams was the top wing in wingspan, measuring at a 7-foot-1 wingspan with a 6-foot-6.5 height without shoes. Williams is a likely Lottery pick and would not be available when the Magic select without a trade.
Favored Magic first-round pick and fellow Colorado forward Tristan Da Silva measured with a 6-foot-10.25 wingspan and 6-foot-8.25 height without shoes. That is not typically the difference the Magic go for in their draft picks.
The top guard who is projected in the Magic's range in wingspan was Baylor guard Ja'Kobe Walter, He measured at 6-foot-4.25 without shoes with a 6-foot-10 wingspan.
That is not the be-all, end-all for the Magic obviously. But this is always something everyone is watching when it comes to the Magic and the kind of players they typically target.