Orlando Magic: Trade The Lottery Pick

The Orlando Magic are lottery bound once again this summer, but they should seriously consider trading that pick.

With the Orlando Magic’s season now finished, we can look back on the campaign and say it was a rather disappointing one. What started off as a modestly bright year peaked before Christmas, and then all fell apart at the turn of the year. Questionable trades involving Tobias Harris and Channing Frye may also come back to haunt the team, but for now another trip to the lottery awaits.

While there’s no question that young, cheap talent is a valuable commodity in today’s NBA, is it really what this team needs? Make no mistake, the draft has been good in that it allowed the Magic to pick up valuable contributors in Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon. Are any of them the superstar in waiting that can take them to the next level though?

Gordon is beginning to show flashes, but for now you’d have to say no. Which is why another trip to the lottery this summer is frustrating for a number of reasons. Nobody is ever going to turn their nose up to a young player with potential upside. But with the team likely to see their pick land later in the lottery, the likelihood of finding a franchise-altering player is slim to none.

With that in mind, it may be worth exploring trading the pick when the team knows what position it will be drafting from. Why? Because there may be a valuable veteran who could be added to the cause as well, as opposed to yet another rookie who would have to learn the ropes and most likely not contribute right away.

On top of that, and it’s a topic we’ll surely return to, what kind of player do the Magic even draft? It’s a difficult choice to make, as on paper they have the relevant young potential at every position on the court. Even if Brandon Jennings leaves this summer, the duo of Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton is supposedly the backcourt of the future.

Whether or not that’s true, Evan Fournier (if he is still around) is another young player coming off his best season as a pro, even if he cooled as the year wore on. Add in Mario Hezonja, a player seemingly every Magic fan wants to see more of, and it’s easy to see why a backcourt player makes little sense.

All of that, and we haven’t even spoken about Devyn Marble either. Although not as naturally talented as others on the roster, he works extremely hard for the team when on the court, which brings a balance to what can oftentimes be a more trigger-happy second unit. He may not stick around forever, but he’s fought hard to be involved in some rotations and has worth.

Moving to the other areas on the court, while there may not be as much depth, especially with Harris and Frye now gone, there are still players who will command minutes going forward. Gordon we’ve spoken about, while Jason Smith was arguably the surprise package of the year with his consistently solid play.

Nikola Vucevic is the center of the future here and a top 10 big man in this league, with the more defensive-minded Dewayne Dedmon the perfect backup. Andrew Nicholson is hardly a lock to play big minutes, but there’s no doubting he’d give more to the Magic next season than a rookie.

That’s really the point here. Although there are more than a couple of rotation players in Orlando, they’re still at points in their respective careers where they can do more to help the team win now. So why not trade the pick then and see what can be gotten for it?

Thinking back to a recent example of this (although it didn’t quite work out for one of the sides) the San Antonio Spurs traded George Hill to the Indiana Pacers on draft night for the 15th pick, a guy named Kawhi Leonard. Now, we all know Leonard went on to be a world-beater, but at the time the Pacers were giving up a late lottery pick for a starter caliber point guard.

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This was a Pacers team that boasted a quality player in Paul George (before his leg break), a veteran voice in David West and a dependable center in Roy Hibbert (before he forgot how to play professional basketball). The move made sense for them, as it gave them a veteran floor general in the hopes it would push them closer to contention.

The Magic aren’t even a playoff team yet, but you can see how they could take advantage of a similar situation (Hill averaged 12 points and 3.5 assists while starting in 73 games this year, and doing so with some questionable hairstyle choices). Could it go wrong in the way it did for the Pacers, who could have paired a two-way star like Leonard with the offensive ability of George?

Possibly, but in truth it’s highly unlikely. Besides, the Magic don’t even have that first star in place to mess up on that level anyway. Looking at their roster, frontcourt help is clearly needed more than a backcourt player. The draft may throw up a suitable candidate, but I’m not sold on that idea. With Frye now gone, this team needs more leadership, even if Jennings remains with the team beyond the summer.

I hope the Orlando Magic seriously explore trading their lottery pick this summer. Let’s see where it lands, with the hope of making a move from there. We haven’t even looked at packaging the pick up with a young player or two in order to get a real player down to Florida, and that’s certainly another interesting take on this.

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Another trip to the lottery though? It just doesn’t make sense for a team desperate to make it back to the postseason as soon as possible.