5 teams with the most to gain from 2023 NBA Draft

Orlando Magic

The 2023 NBA Draft seems like it’s going to be a good time for a lot of Western Conference teams. The only team with two lottery selections, however, is the Eastern Conference’s lone representative on this list, the Orlando Magic.

As Orlando continues to try and organize a core and return to the top of the league, it has the No. 6 and No. 11 picks. The latter comes courtesy of the Chicago Bulls.

There will almost certainly be a temptation to pool those picks to trade up. If the Magic can’t crack the top three, that’s probably not worth it. Even if they can, it may not be worth it depending on what goes the other way.

They could also trade those picks for a bonafide superstar to help bring along the likes of Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero. Zach LaVine seems like an intriguing name, although it’s hard to say if Chicago wants to dance again.

Still, Orlando has much to gain simply by hanging on to these picks. Their roster is extremely young and there are some promising pieces there. For the Magic, they need to be focused on upside as much as possible.

Even if the Magic aren’t picking in the elite tier, they should still be able to come away with one potential major contributor of the future. Some of the players who should be around for Orlando’s picks include Gradey Dick, Anthony Black, one of the Thompson twins, Cam Whitmore, Cason Wallace – the list goes on.

Orlando has seemingly been rebuilding since Dwight Howard left town. The magic of Disney World hasn’t pulled them through the morass yet, but their time may be coming in this draft.