Orlando Magic Daily 2024 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Opportunity abounds, success is narrow

Young And Restless

It is hard to get a sense of what the Portland Trail Blazers are looking for these days. They are likely shopping their two lead guards to give Scoot Henderson more chances to play. They are unlikely to be able to move their high-priced bigs in Deandre Ayton, Robert Williams and Jerami Grant.

The Blazers should be looking to add more top-end talent and build the core of their future as they begin to move off some of these stars. Their goal is not about immediate success or wins.

That is why I have them taking Cody Williams. He looks the most like a potential star among the players remaining in the draft. Injuries slowe dhis momentum toward the end of the year, but he has the size and the skills to be an attacker and scorer and someone to grow alongside Henderson.

Chances for a Magic Trade: Wait and See

Orlando Magic fans have had their eyes on Anfernee Simons for a long while. There are not a ton of point guards to look at around this pick. But the Blazers could easily pick someone like Rob Dillingham and hint toward a transition away from Simons or Malcolm Brogdon. The Magic are not moving up for this pick, but they should be looking to help the Blazers get under the tax through a trade.

Continuing the theme from the San Antonio Spurs' first pick, shooting should be their main concern surrounding Victor Wembanyama. Adding Reed Sheppard and Dalton Knecht would be considered a home run fro them.

Knecht is a four-year player who improved as he climbed the ladder from small school to the SEC last year at Tennessee. That he carried over his scoring average from Northern Colorado to be one of the best shooters in the SEC is a testament to his talent. He should be able to step in and hit from three pretty quickly.

Zach Edey may be one of the more divisive prospects in this year's Draft. You either believe in his size and the growth he made in his final year at Purdue can lift him to becoming a quality rotation player or that he benefitted too much from his size and overpowering smaller college players.

The consensus seems to be leaning toward not overthinking things and trusting that his numbers will translate in some fashion. His size is just impossible to ignore.

The Memphis Grizzlies like to play two bigs together and adding a player with this pick who can immediately impact games would be valauble for them.

Chances for a Magic Trade: Not likely

Both the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies are likely looking more for veterans to help them win immediately. I do not have the Magic interested in Edey (although I think Memphis would be interested in Wendell Carter). The trade-up option in this range is Dalton Knecht, the injured Nikola Topic or perhaps Tidjane Salaun. Although maybe they like Kel'el Ware enough to grab him earlier than most would expect.