Orlando Magic: What If Lottery Is Cruel To Them?

For the Orlando Magic, their entire offseason will revolve around their positioning in the upcoming NBA Draft lottery on Tuesday. The odds project them to land the fifth pick, and in an ideal world that would be the case. Even better, there is the possibility they could pick higher, which would be great for the team.

It would give them a larger talent pool to choose from, and make no mistake, this is a talented incoming draft class. But what if it all goes wrong on lottery night? What should their plan B involve?

While the team could come out picking higher than expected, they may also slip down the board as well. This is the cruel nature of the lottery, and when you see the Cleveland Cavaliers come out with the top pick two out of three years, it can be disheartening. Should Orlando slide further away from their ideal player though, what should they do instead?

In my mind, and in the minds of others, Justise Winslow is the player the Magic should draft given the opportunity. If Orlando does indeed nab the fifth pick, there’s a high possibility Winslow is still on the board. The likes of Willie Cauley-Stein, Jahlil Okafor, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell seem to have garnered more interest than the defensive-minded Winslow, and will probably go before him.

This would pair a defensive college standout who plays the forward position with a team who needs a wing player who can defend opponent’s best players. On paper it’s the perfect match, especially if Tobias Harris ups and leaves town as a restricted free agent. Harris’ minutes would largely go right away to Winslow, the guy with tireless motor who was the backbone of Duke’s NCAA title win earlier this year.

Sadly though, it is rarely that straightforward for rebuilding teams in the NBA. The New York Knicks have better odds of landing above the Magic in the lottery pecking order, and they have expressed interest in Winslow too. So if Winslow is gone, what type of player should the Magic draft? The forward/wing spot is their biggest need, but drafting so high, should they go for talent if Winslow is gone off the board and figure out the rest later?

If that is indeed what the team does, they will be faced with picking either a guard or a center. The one issue there however, is that Nikola Vucevic is locked in as this team’s starting center of the future having signed a four-year extension before the season began. While the backcourt tandem of Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton has experienced growing pains for sure, there is little to indicate Orlando are willing to give up on that pairing.

As we’ve seen with the Phoenix Suns before, adding three guards of starting caliber to a rotation can lead to more problems than solutions. Not that the likes of Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay would expect to be starters from day one, but they could at least push to take over the starting role from Payton.

That would likely lead to issues, especially as Payton was given a vote of confidence when he took over the starting role midway through the season himself. He was also recently named to the All-Rookie first team, further proof that he has a bright future. So with all of that information, what kind of player should the team look to draft then?

For me anyway, it’s got to be a guard type player if the team is backed into a situation like this. The center position is covered with Vucevic, one of the best young big men in the game today. Defensively he may never be the rim protector this franchise needs to truly excel, but offensively he’s up there with the best centers in the league. He’s going nowhere, especially given how consistently impressive he was for the team in what turned into a lost season pretty quickly.

On top of that, a relatively cheap backup big man can be gotten through free agency, or potentially a trade involving the likes of forgotten man Maurice Harkless. As it is, Kyle O’Quinn is an underrated big man who comes off the bench and gives the team a dose of reliable rim protection. So going with a guard seems to make sense.

It’s still a little complicated though. Both Mudiay and Russell are the two most desired guards in the draft. So if Orlando drafted somebody like a Kelly Oubre with their pick, a guy they could bring off the bench for some pop, they’d be potentially wasting a top five pick when there’s better talent available.

There is another route the team could take here, and one that seems to make the most sense of all. Sure, Winslow may be gone when the team is picking. But there are still other talented forwards in the draft, even if they’re not on the same level defensively as Winslow. Stanley Johnson would be an adequate replacement for Winslow, an athletic forward who can contribute on both ends. Mario Hezonja is another who intrigues, but the possibility of him staying with Barcelona into next season is an issue.

This team needs another guy who can contribute almost right away as they bid to have a serious crack at making the playoffs next season. It’s kind of scary how much I’ve bought into Winslow being the guy who can solve a lot of problems for this team. All I’ve heard is how it’s a perfect fit, and it truly looks like it is. But the draft is never as straightforward as it seems. Now we have to hope the balls bounce the right way for this team.

Next: NBA: 10 Players Who Deserve More Appreciation

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