Round II — The Magic’s New Pair of J’s vs. The World
In Round I, Orlando Magic fans reviewed the scenarios most likely to play out for the Magic’s 6th overall pick; in Round II, lets run through scenarios where highly-touted prospects slip in the draft and the paradox of choice may overwhelm the new Magic front office.
The projected top five picks in this year’s NBA Draft are as follows:
1.) Markelle Fultz
2.) Lonzo Ball
3.) Josh Jackson
4.) Jayson Tatum
5.) De’Aaron Fox
Out of these five prospects, all of whom are most likely drafted ahead of Dennis Smith Jr., Jonathan Isaac, and Malik Monk, it isn’t a definite that anyone is better than the other as an overall prospect, or even a better fit, for the Magic to select. The chances of Fultz slipping past 1, let alone all the way down to 6, are slim to none; though not as much of a lock as Kevin Durant or Blake Griffin out of college, Fultz embodies the ideal scoring guard position in today’s NBA with his ball skills, outside range, and ability to switch between the 1 and the 2. As for the rest of every expert’s big board, however, no one is safe.
Lavar Ball has either “talked his son” into the purple and gold as the 2nd overall pick or off the first five teams’ draft board completely due to his disruptive behavior. All five squads could skip over Lonzo because of his father’s unwanted media attention, or for a more realistic reason, due to Lonzo simply sharing the same potential upside as his counterparts. Has Lonzo proven an ability to consistently make the right play and exude exemplary court-vision throughout entire games? Yes, as Ball revealed while playing at UCLA, with a strong supporting cast to help execute Lonzo’s playmaking, I might add. Is Lonzo Ball more likely to become a top fifteen player in the league over anyone else available at one point in his career? Not necessarily, as Lonzo’s pass-first mindset could lead him down Ricky Rubio’s Route of empty, flashy passes, or worse, down Rajon Rondo assist-grabby Road, before even sniffing Jason-Kidd’s pure-playmaker path to Springfield.
Josh Jackson is noted as the biggest lock to plug into a rotation for meaningful 3-and-D minutes right away for a team, while the same can be said for Jayson Tatum and his ISO-scoring capability on the offensive end from the 3/4 position. De’Aaron Fox has been rumored to go as high as 2nd overall by the Lakers, which would set the big baller brand control room off to self-destruct, but Fox could also slip due to his noted lack of outside-shooting ability. All players have weaknesses to their game, well, besides the guy who spells his name with a capital B three letters into the name; every player is otherworldly at one or more specific basketball skills, otherwise they wouldn’t have made it this far into the process. It’s up to every front office to decide if each set of weaknesses is outweighed by the strengths of skill-set unique to each player.
Time to play: Scenario
Scenario A — Sorry, Ms. Jackson
Draft Board:
1.) Boston — Markelle Fultz
2.) L.A. Lakers — Lonzo Ball
3.) Philadelphia — Dennis Smith Jr.
4.) Phoenix — Jayson Tatum
5.) Sacramento — De’Aaron Fox
Magic consider: Josh Jackson, Malik Monk, Jonathan Isaac
“Sorry Ms. Jackson”, your son, Josh, fell to the Orlando Magic at 6th on the Official Draft Board; talk about a steal for Orlando. Out of everyone in the projected top five, there isn’t a player better fit to join the Magic’s rotation right away while retaining as high of a potential upside as Josh Jackson; with player comparisons to Paul George, Jackson would make for an athletic, switchy forward combination with Aaron Gordon for years to come, providing Frank Vogel with a more natural forward prospect to develop into a lockdown wing defender while maintaining a threat of an outside shot on the offensive end. Being such a highly-touted prospect, the Magic might suddenly look like a darling upstart again; with Elfrid, Aaron, Vuc, Biz and three wings on the roster, Josh slides nicely into the open 3-spot in the starting unit, revealing the point guard rotation as the main focus for the Magic to fix-up.
Are the revitalized Orlando Magic front office and new-look, small-ball roster of asset-retention tantalizing enough to draw George Hill out of Utah? Being the 4th or 5th best point guard available in the deepest positional market of the sport, George Hill will (deservingly) command what will likely be his last ginormous contract during this balloon cap-space era. Hill is the best point guard available for the Magic to land a meeting with, depending on your opinion for the injury-prone Jrue Holiday. I hate to break the news to any delusional fans, such as myself, who believe not only in Magic, but that anything is possible: Steph Curry, Chris Paul, and Kyle Lowry ain’t walking through that door. These three aren’t even answering our phone calls to POTENTIALLY sit-down for five minutes during free agency; our texts are being left on “read”, if the triumvirate even opens them at all, smh. Throw a team-manager in his prime like George Hill into the mix for this young squad, and the Magic suddenly shift from worst to first, or at least, to like, 7th or better in the East.
George Hill Terrence Ross Josh Jackson Aaron Gordon Nikola Vucevic
Elfrid Payton Evan Fournier Mario Hezonja Bizmack Biyombo
That’s a playoff team, folks, and frankly, this rotation is my personal favorite outcome for the Magic this off-season. Is Josh Jackson going to be available at 6? Probably not. Will Jeff Weltman and Josh Hammond, The Magic’s New Pair of J’s in the front office, be ready to swoop Jackson up if he free-falls? You bet your SpottieOttieDopaliscious ass they will.
Scenario B. Tatum fell and can’t get up!
Draft Board:
1.) Boston — Markelle Fultz
2.) L.A. Lakers — Lonzo Ball
3.) Philadelphia — Malik Monk
4.) Phoenix — Josh Jackson
5.) Sacramento — De’Aaron Fox
Magic consider: Jayson Tatum, Dennis Smith Jr., Jonathan Isaac
Jayson Tatum is more likely to fall to 6 than Josh Jackson. Although both are viewed as theoretical decade locks in the association for each of their relative skill sets, Tatum’s ISO-scoring mentality is slightly outweighed by Jackson’s NBA-ready defensive prowess in the view of NBA front office execs. Tatum has been comp’d as the player type who every team seems to get better after displacing from their rosters: Rudy Gay, Carmelo Anthony, Tobias Harris, etc… Complaints aside, Tatum will probably be an All-Star. No matter how you view shot-efficiency, ball-movement, and new-age basketball, if ISO scorers keep outplaying their positional adversary, they’ll continue to be revered as hero-ball saviors and rewarded with popularity contest All-Star appearances appropriately. Jayson fits the current Magic roster almost as smoothly as Josh Jackson; slide Tatum into the starting small-forward spot and open the floor due to his scoring threat so Elfrid and Aaron can run amuck inside the key.
Bringing Jayson Tatum in through the draft helps solve the wing uncertainty left on the Magic roster, leaving Free Agency as the quickest path to fill the hole at point guard. George Hill would be nice, but assuming he stays in Utah, let’s vie through some other possibilities. Steph, CP3, and Lowry are still sending automatic text replies to Orlando’s calls, so maybe the Magic can sit down with a Jrue Holiday. Derrick Rose, Jeff Teague, and Rajon Rondo are the other name-brand quarterbacks available; Jrue simply provides both the 3pt-shooting and right-play-making ability that the these three former all-stars don’t fully offer. The only issue left with Jrue is the price tag attached to one of the top seven point guards available in Free Agency; Jrue will see something upwards of $17–20M/yr for the next four years on the open market. Is a 9-figure contract cool for an injury-prone player at the deepest position in the league? If healthy, Jrue is worth it simply due to the relative talent available this summer who will probably costs just as much; at Holiday’s age, 26, its unlikely his contract would lose value as long as he stays healthy and could always be traded later if he’s not a perfect fit in Orlando. Bring in Holiday and Tatum at the same time and see our offense alter from the bottom half to the top half of the league over-night.
Scenario C. Low-Baller Brand
Draft Board:
1.) Boston — Markelle Fultz
2.) L.A. Lakers — De’Aaron Fox
3.) Philadelphia — Josh Jackson
4.) Phoenix — Jonathan Isaac
5.) Sacramento — Jayson Tatum
Magic consider: Lonzo Ball, Dennis Smith Jr., Malik Monk
Side-Scenario:
Oh, Balls. Lonzo, Lonzo, Lonzo, how the preemptively declared mighty have fallen. After talking his son DOWN five slots to the Orlando Magic at 6, Lavar Ball unapologetically resigns as CEO of Big Baller Brand on First Take, leaving lil’ LaMelo in charge of operations. Lonzo stays quiet, but the mightiest of all chips are placed on his shoulder throughout the next day’s all-ball coverage from ESPN’s onslaught of daily sports talk shows. Weeks later, on opening night in Orlando, Lonzo appears ready to drop his Balls on the scorer’s table before messing around for a triple-double in his first regular season game. The next day, Lavar makes a tearful speech, again on First Take, begging Lonzo to take him back, to which initially, Lonzo stays silent. Later that evening, though, Lonzo BREAKS his silence. In the second game of his career, on a back to back no less, Lonzo takes the mic before tip-off, “Yo, Lavar, I’ma let you finish, but Dwyane Wade’s sneaker brand Li Ning makes the dopest shoes in the world!” Lonzo begins to unlace his big ballers, replacing each with a blue and white Li Ning. “I’m ditching BBB and starting a journey as my own man, a path taken far, lavar away from my father. Follow me my bro, LaMelo!” Lonzo drops the mic; the crowd is restless. Will Lonzo back up his words? Will he drop another triple-double? Or will he go mamba mode on these poor suckers? Tip-off ensues and Ball drops 40 points in his 2nd career NBA game. LaMelo runs out after the game, along with the Magic bench, cheering and throwing Lonzo up into the air after his career night. Lonzo goes on to build a legendary career as an as-advertised playmaking-maestro, LaMelo disenfranchises BBB, and Lavar never appears on a talk show again.
…anyways….
With Lonzo now under the helm, the Magic can fill their small forward needs in free agency. Lonzo and Elfrid can handle driving to the rim and all other “point guard who can’t shoot good but is good at other stuff” duties while Evan, #PaperMario, and Ross set up on the wing for open 3’s. As AG, Vuc, and Biz run around the paint, Orlando can look to fill the starting 3-spot with someone who stretches the floor offensively while holding his own defensively against elite wings. The market says Robert Covington might be had at a discount, but if Covington starts hearing offers in the $17–20M/year range, the Magic must consider overpaying Otto Porter instead. As the best small forward in free agency not named Kevin Durant or Gordon Hayward, Porter won’t come cheap. Due to his restricted free agency situation with the Wizards, any contract Orlando sends to Otto Porter can be matched by Washington within three days of the offering. That said, if the Magic can somehow swindle Otto to the tune of four years and eighty million dollars, he’s proven at his age, 23, to be worth it; Porter has shown immense progress in Washington, though his general effort may be questioned after waiting to post career numbers until this “contract year” of his. Pair up Lonzo’s potentially transcendant ball skills, though, with Otto Porter’s commitment to the D-and-3 lifestyle, and the Magic are rapidly more competitive in the East again.
Scenario D. Spy Fox 3: “Operation Ozone”
Draft Board:
1.) Boston — Markelle Fultz
2.) L.A. Lakers — Lonzo Ball
3.) Philadelphia — Josh Jackson
4.) Phoenix — Jonathan Isaac
5.) Sacramento — Jayson Tatum
Magic consider: De’Aaron Fox, Dennis Smith Jr., Malik Monk
Whether Pajama Sam, Putt-Putt, or Spy Fox was your favorite childhood game…wait, what? Where am I? Oh yeah, I’m chillin’ up in the Ozone. De’Aaron “Spy” Fox is the quickest guard in this draft class; Fox drinks his milk so fast he leaves his Cereal, Dry. De’Aaron’s been enamored as the “half-a-step slower but still the fastest guy since John Wall” prospect of the group, meaning he likes to drive and when he drives he likes to drive fast(and turn left). Is De’Aaron Fox a better fit for the Magic than Malik Monk or Dennis Smith Jr.? Is Fox even the better overall player than the latter two prospects?
The biggest knock on Fox is his 3pt-shot; although his shot is not as bad as advertised, the Magic already feature a player, Elfrid Payton, who seems to have fallen out of the same linear tree and, as crazy as it seems, is also an expert in Cock-A-Doodle Fu. Does De’Aaron have a higher potential upside at his young age compared to the quick-turn veteran, Elfrid? At this point in Payton’s career, sure, Fox can become a better overall player if he isn’t already. Does this play type bode well for the Magic roster, though? This remains to be seen. When Elfrid shows up every other couple of games by driving into the lane and creating easier opportunities for everybody else, his play type seems uber-effective as he consistently flirts with a triple-double, but when the Magic slow things down in the half-court, Payton’s defender would clog up the paint.
If Orlando did decide to roll the dice on Spy Fox, keep an eye on how the market plays out for Danilo Gallinari. If Kevin Durant and Gordon Hayward stay with each of their relative teams, Gallo is suddenly the best unrestricted small forward available this summer. Along with Rudy Gay and Otto Porter, Danilo will receive huge offers from any team looking to bolster its depth for 6’9” guys with ball skills, a.k.a. the ability to shoot, pass, and/or dribble; so, every team with cap room will be reaching out. Spread the pick and roll for Fox or Elfrid as Gallinari spots up in the corner, and the ball-handlers’ former lack of room to drive into the paint will suddenly feel luxury-suite spacious.
To sum up all of these wacky scenarios, below are the pairings that make the most sense for the Magic after they draft one of the best seven prospects in the draft not named Markelle Fultz:
Magic Draft Player (X)? Sign Free Agent (Y)!
Draft Lonzo? Sign Otto Porter
Draft Josh Jackson? Sign George Hill
Draft De’Aaron Fox? Sign Gallinari
Draft Jayson Tatum? Sign Jrue Holiday
Draft Dennis Smith Jr.? Sign Robert Covington
Draft Jonathan Isaac? Sign Patty Mills or Yogi Ferrell
Draft Malik Monk? Sign Omri Casspi, James Johnson, or Patrick Patterson
Read Round I here on free agent pairings with Orlando’s more likely choices with the 6th overall pick: Monk, DSJ, and JIsaac
Stuff the MAGIC could do without trading Elfrid, Mario, or Aaron.
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