The Orlando Magic have a talented group of young athletes, but lack strong outside shooters. What options are available to them in the 2016 NBA Draft?
Can a team without shooting survive in the modern NBA?
That’s a question the Orlando Magic have been asking the past few years as they have gone through the initial stages of their rebuild. Stan Van Gundy stocked the roster with shooters around Dwight Howard, but as things flipped over Orlando found itself with increasingly less floor spacers on the team.
GM Rob Hennigan has focused on drafting the best player available for the past few years, often going after superior athletes with defensive toughness and offensive upside. What that last phrase usually means is that a player doesn’t yet have a reliable jumpshot.
That was the case with Victor Oladipo, the second overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft. While Oladipo has improved as a shooter, last year he only shot 34 percent from three-point distance. That was a career high.
The 2014 draft brought two lottery picks in Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton. Both are freak athletes who work hard on every possession. They also combined for less than one three-pointer per game last season.
The Magic’s most recent draft selection was Croatian wing Mario Hezonja. While he was touted as a shooter coming into the league, Hezonja shot 34 percent from three and averaged less than one made per game.
The only member of Orlando’s young core who can hit consistently from outside is Evan Fournier, and the Frenchman is a restricted free agent this offseason. If another team throws $18 million a year his way, it’s uncertain whether the Magic would match.
That puts a lot of pressure on Hennigan and this 2016 draft class. Does he continue with his strategy of best player available? Or will he focus on need and get a sharpshooter from distance?
If the two lists overlap, that would be the best of both worlds. A player such as Jamal Murray or Buddy Hield would be perfect fits for the Magic. Unfortunately, it is unlikely either slips all the way down the board to 11th.
And that is part of the difficulty the Magic face this year. Scott Skiles coached this team well enough for them to slip out of the range of this year’s best prospects, but not well enough to strike at the playoffs. With new coach Frank Vogel on board, the Magic are looking to take the next step up. What players that could reasonably be available to them would fit that goal?
Skal Labissiere is a popular name when discussing the Orlando Magic. He would certainly fit a need as a big man who can theoretically hit from outside. The problem is that Labissiere had a terrible season for Kentucky, at times completely dropping out of the rotation. If the tantalizing potential he shows comes to fruition, he would be a steal at #11. But if his year at Kentucky is indicative of his inability to put it all together, the Magic would have wasted a needed pick.
Regardless of whether Labissiere reaches his potential, he is going to take a number of years to develop. If the Magic wish to compete for the playoffs this year, they will most likely go after a more NBA-ready player.
One such player is Jakob Poetl, a towering center out of Utah who could defend the rim in a way current Magic starter Nikola Vucevic cannot. He could step in and bolster the defense immediately, serving a role on defense for Vogel similar to Roy Hibbert in Indiana.
Another player who could step in immediately is Denzel Valentine, a versatile player who could slot in anywhere from point guard to small forward. He can handle, pass, and absolutely stroke it from outside.
Looking at high-ceiling prospects, Henry Ellenson could be the stretch-four the Magic are looking for. While he doesn’t offer much in the way of rim protection, Ellenson can certainly shoot, and he offers a robust package of offensive skills. Once a possible top-five pick, Ellenson is sliding down draft boards.
Other names will float around between now and Thursday night’s draft. Some will be easy to pronounce, such as Wade Baldwin and Malachi Richardson. Others will be trickier, such as Furkan Korkmaz and Domantas Sabonis. And some should be said five times fast, such as Timothe Luwawu.
In the end, the Magic have to decide their goal for this year, and draft accordingly. If they want to take this core to the playoffs, they need a rotational player who can score. If their goals are further into the future, the list of possibilities widens significantly.
And in the end, the Magic may need to look past wingspans and motors and just take a player who can hit an outside shot.
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