Orlando Magic: Draft Night Thoughts

After all the build up and talk, the 2015 NBA Draft came and went without too much fuss. There were some trades made, sure, as well as the apparent alienating of fans and star player as the New York Knicks selected Kristaps Porzingis fourth. But all in all it was a straightforward affair, with the exception of a couple of potential steals we’ll get to in a bit.

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When the Orlando Magic were on the clock however, I was a mix of nerves and excitement. For months now I had wanted this team to draft Justise Winslow, and he was still on the board. He was the engine of the championship winning Duke team who just so happened to be a forward as well. That forward position appeared to be the most pressing need for the Magic, especially with the long-term future of Tobias Harris unclear.

On top of that, exciting guard Emmanuel Mudiay was still on the board, as was big man Willie Cauley-Stein. Although the Magic already had sufficient backcourt players and a long term center, seeing those names still available intrigued as well. In fact, given that the Knicks had taken a gamble on Porzingis (which could absolutely work out for them by the way), I felt somewhat confident that the Magic were in a sort of “can’t miss” position.

The temptation of Porzingis was gone, and there was still quality in every position to pick from. So when Mario Hezonja’s name was announced I was only mildly surprised, and not upset either. I had written earlier in the week how it was possible the team could go for him. The Barcelona player a guy who can spend some time at the forward position in certain lineups. So that covered arguably the team’s biggest need.

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Offensively he would appear to be the exact type of player the team has been crying out for to help them score more points. In recent seasons, the team has drafted players with a more defensive mentality (Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Devyn Marble) leading to some rough offensive sets throughout the course of last season.

Orlando ranked 24th in points scored (95.7) but also wasn’t elite enough on the other end to make opponents score even fewer points on most nights. As a comparison, the Utah Jazz ranked right behind the Magic in points scored, 95.1, but because of the emergence of defensive standout Rudy Gobert, they were able to stagnate opponent’s offenses. This lead to some nice runs and ultimately a 38-44 record in the Western conference.

So this pickup of Hezonja would appear to be a great fit on the surface. Truthfully though, I don’t know a ton about the guy, and I imagine a lot of people are in the same boat. That’s why I will refrain from giving any real thought on if he’ll be a good or bad fit for the team, until I’ve actually seen him play some NBA games.

I have never liked getting into arguments about players who have yet to play a professional game of basketball, because as of right now all anybody has are opinions (I love giving my opinion as much as the next person, but not on matters we all really have no clue about) on how they think an individual will do. See what I mean?

This much we do know though. Hezonja appears to be very confident in his own abilities, and has played to a high standard of competitive basketball in Europe. Hearing him be referred to as ‘The Croatian Kobe Bryant‘ makes me cringe. Not until he’s started to make some noise in the NBA should that nickname ever be brought out. “Super Mario” I can roll with though.

We know he’s a scorer of the basketball, sometimes in high volume, and that was the one big Magic need. So in theory (again, we don’t know how he’ll react to NBA defenses, something he will have never seen before) this is a great addition from that perspective. Defensively he commits as well and that should translate to at least making a difference on some plays on that end of the floor.

New head coach Scott Skiles should love that skill set as he embarks on a mission to turn this young team into one of the stingiest defenses in the league. So the way I see it right now, yes there were more established players who are further along their development on the table. But at 20 years old and already appearing to show the relevant skills in European competition, I’m perfectly happy with this pick.

It could also turn out to be the turning point for this franchise in terms of becoming a winning team again as Hezonja should take some of the scoring burden off of Oladipo. With Nikola Vucevic also chipping in with 15-20 points a night (He averaged 19.3 last season), suddenly the games opens up offensively for this team. That’s positive news, and we don’t even know who this team could potentially find in free agency to add to this mix.

A quick word on the players the team missed out on too. Mudiay I can live with, even if Oladipo and Payton have issues when playing together (Floor spacing, shooting). They’re a combination with too much potential to can just yet. Cauley-Stein would have been nice, but the organization backed Vucevic, and so far he’s done nothing to suggest that was a bad move. He needs to improve defensively however, even if he doesn’t always get a lot of help on that end.

Winslow is the one I’d love to have seen in a Magic uniform though. Maybe he’ll never rise to the level where the team truly regrets passing on him, but he’s just tireless and has that will to win. Again, he’s yet to play in the NBA so it’s hard to know how he’ll turn out. But unlike Hezonja, I did see him quite a few times playing in college, and some of his intangibles look like they’d translate anywhere from a pickup game to the playoffs.

This is an analytics driven league these days, and rightly so. The numbers rarely lie, and they tell most of the story. But like a Drayond Green for the Golden State Warriors (a guy who also posts mostly healthy numbers) he looks like he could have that energy and heart to bind a team together. How he fell into the hands of the Miami Heat, a team with question marks surrounding them but not exactly in full on rebuild mode, is a mystery.

The NBA draft is done for another year though, and if we’re lucky the Magic won’t be a lottery team next season (Although that’s being somewhat optimistic). The picks have been made, and it’s Mario Hezonja who will be be donning the pinstriped blue next season, and he looks to to a good fit here. Now all that’s left is to see him in action, and it’s going to be exciting to see what he can bring to this team.

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