2018 NBA Draft: Biggest winners and losers

Loser: Orlando Magic

I may have almost shed a tear when Mohamed Bamba was selected by the Orlando Magic. I love all of the players individually Orlando selected, but I hate the fact that they went to the Magic. What really stuck out to me was just blatantly disregarding their need for a shot creator and shooting. Although, what can you expect from a John Hammond-led draft besides massive wingspans?

I loved Mohamed Bamba as a prospect. Personally, I believe that he is a great and smart kid that would realize a lot of — if not all of — his potential, pending injury. However, the Magic selected Bamba without any primary or even solid secondary creator on their team to get him the basketball. The only good news I can make out of this pick is that Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Bioyombo are still under contract next season, so hopefully the Magic will let Bamba fill out his frame as much as possible in the upcoming season.

Then the Magic came back in the second round and selected Melvin Frazier. Again, I love Frazier and really fell in love with his defensive and athletic ability. I think his shot will go down at a reasonable rate, but it may not be immediately. Also, putting Frazier on a team without a playmaker could be disastrous. He is very limited to what he can do in terms of handling the ball really just being a straight line driver at this point in his career.

I do not think that either of these prospects make much of an impact in their first years in Orlando. If one or both could potentially be thrown into the fire next season, I will be worried that it may hurt their confidence and stunt their growth as players in a bad situation. Really, just the complete disregard to draft offensive-minded players and continuously just draft raw talented athletes does not sit well with me.