Orlando Magic: 3 reasons for optimism with the sixth overall pick
By Luke Duffy
Once more the Orlando Magic were hoping to get a little luck in the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery. Once again, they didn’t. But they still have reason to be happy with the sixth overall pick.
The Orlando Magic may have been hoping for a little bit of good fortune in the form of improved standing in the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery, but that did not happen.
While teams like the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings leapfrogged others into higher positions, the Magic came out with the sixth pick in this summer’s draft.
Entering the night, they had the fifth-best odds at the No. 1 pick, with a 29 percent chance of sneaking into the top three.
Although Magic fans can point to nobody for the team’s failure to move up the board, it is still disheartening to see their horrible season produce a pick outside the top three.
Perhaps if they’d tanked a little harder or been without players like Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon for longer because of injury, they could have improved their odds a bit more.
In any event, they need to start planning for which draft prospect to add to their growing number of lottery selections, joining Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Mario Hezonja.
That former top-10 selections Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton are no longer with the team speaks volumes about the circles the franchise continues to go around in. It’s important for the Magic to nail their first round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft as they select from No. 6 for the second year in a row.
The chance to draft the next big star in this league is exciting, so here are three reasons the Magic organization and their fans can be happy about the upcoming pick.