2017 NBA Draft: How Markelle Fultz would impact every lottery team
By Max Holm
Orlando Magic – 8.8% Chance of Winning Lottery
Statistically speaking, the Orlando Magic are the last team with a decent chance of snagging away the No. 1 pick from the Boston Celtics. They have a decent point guard in Elfrid Payton, but they shouldn’t think twice about taking Fultz here. Orlando has had one of the worst young rosters in the league for years and has no one close to emerging as a star.
Drafting Fultz would likely mean trading Payton, who becomes a free agent next summer. Yes they could coexist, but it wouldn’t make sense to pay Payton a buttload of money next summer when he’s never shot the ball well and you have Fultz waiting in the wings. They probably wouldn’t get much, but it’d be better than Payton walking for nothing in 2018.
With Fultz on board, the future would actually look bright in Orlando. Fultz would establish a decent core alongside Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier. With the trade of Serge Ibaka, Gordon should finally get to play full time at the 4 and would get better from playing with a pick and roll maestro in Fultz. Orlando would probably be pretty bad for the next two seasons or so, but at least they’d finally have their first franchise player since Dwight Howard.