The Orlando Magic front office is opening up about its options for draft night.
The team that hasn’t seen the post season in five years has a shot to walk away with some new raw talent or move around for future assets in this Thursday’s NBA Draft. The team has four picks in the first two rounds and has lots of room for flexibility.
In years past the Orlando Magic have typically drafted what has been best available and left on the board when their number has been called. But with a new a GM and President of Operations the mindset is tweaked a little to picking a player that yes has talent, but too will grow within the system and elevate the team as a whole.
“That’s the nature of the draft is we all have these paradigms of ‘we’re going to draft this type of person and this type of player’ and you know we are all human beings, like we are dealing with human beings –it’s never going to be just the way you want it,” Magic President of Operations Jeff Weltman said Monday.
“But that being said when, you know when I was here last time I told you guys we want talented players who play for each other –that’s where we start the conversation and then from there we go into different layers of their personalities and their characters and their skill sets –but that’s at the core of what we want to try to do.”
Though John Hammond and Weltman are new to Orlando ---this duo has been working together for six years and is approaching its 7th draft night together—Magic fans hoping this is a winning combination.
“We all try to do the best job that we possibly can, work through the process,” Magic General Manager John Hammond explained. “Like any other team you hope at the end of the day your harking back for some good luck. You know the multiple picks are great opportunity for us—gives us some flexibility going into the draft evening to maybe possibly moving up in the draft or moving them for future assets gives us some flexibility.”
The Orlando Magic will have the 6th and 25th picks in the first round of the NBA Draft Thursday night, along with the 33rd and 35th selections in the second round.