NBA Draft: Each team’s greatest draft pick of all-time

Greatest draft pick in Orlando Magic history: Shaquille O’Neal

The Orlando Magic had been in existence for just three relatively meaningless seasons before they were sent a gift by the basketball gods in the summer of 1992. Shaquille O’Neal was dubbed the next great center coming out of LSU as the consensus No. 1 overall pick, and he wound up in the Magic Kingdom to inject greatness into the organization.

From the get-go, O’Neal was as overpowering a force down low as the league had ever seen, simply bullying his way through any and all defenders on his way to the rim. En route to the Rookie of the Year award, he averaged an inconceivable 23.4 points, 13.9 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game.

While most normal players come into their own in year three, Shaq would qualify for his third All-Star appearance, already one of the best players in the NBA as a junior. He led the Magic to their first ever NBA Finals appearance during the 1994-95 season by averaging 25.7 points on 57.7 percent shooting along with 11.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Remember, he was just 22 years old at the time.

Orlando would lose that series in a swift four-game sweep at the hands of the Houston Rockets, led by Finals MVP Hakeem Olajuwon. If the Dream outplayed O’Neal, it wasn’t by much. Shaq had asserted himself on the games grandest stage, and the future looked as bright as ever for this young Magic squad.

As history shows, that core group never made it back to the NBA Finals. O’Neal would leave for the west coast the following summer, squashing any hope of another championship run. It was a fun ride while it lasted, though, one that brought an expansion franchise out of the cellars with a player unlike any other in NBA history.