guarantee trigger for Jonathan Isaac<\/a>.<\/p>\nBetter health, hopefully, will help fill in those roles. But Orlando needs to continue working to injury-proof its roster and add depth.<\/p>\n
It is clear Orlando needs to find players who are capable defenders but eager to score. The Magic would seemingly still need a rim-protecting center — Goga Bitadze is a luxury as a third center at this point too and Moe Wagner is a free agent again.<\/p>\n
The Magic still have a lot to fill in and a lot of work to do this offseason. And the draft has a role to play if there is someone the Magic want to jump up and get.<\/p>\n
By now, Orlando should know who it likes. And the benefit of not being in the first round means the team can jump up where it needs to go if it wants someone that desperately. <\/p>\n
Who might those players be?<\/p>\n
This is the NBA fan’s time to get to know the draft prospects throughout the draft. Someone is going to raise their stock with a deep playoff run and get fans excited enough to trade up for them.<\/p>\n
Here are prospects I am watching as the NCAA Tournament begins.<\/p>\n
1. Yaxel Lendeborg (F, Michigan)vs. Howard (Thurs., 7:10P, CBS)<\/p>\n
I was a big fan of Yaxel Lendeborg in last year’s draft process and thought he was the perfect player for the Orlando Magic to pursue. He is a 6-foot-9 forward with good mobility and athleticism. He proved himself as a great scorer at UAB.<\/p>\n
He ended up taking his name out of the draft and transferring to Michigan, proving he could play at the elite college basketball levels. <\/p>\n
He did that, averaging 14.4 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game on 50.6\/34.3\/82.0 shooting splits. This is all while being an excellent defender in a system that is designed to help players prepare for the NBA.<\/p>\n
That has apparently not improved his draft stock. He is still projected on the outskirts of the Lottery. And while Lendeborg is a bit older, he is still a really capable player who could slide into almost any role.<\/p>\n
Lendeborg is an older player at 23 years old. He fit in perfectly with Michigan and even though the Magic have plenty of bigger wings, they still need wing players. <\/p>\n
His shooting is the big detraction. But Lendeborg is still my favorite talent play.<\/p>\n
2. Aday Mara (C, Michigan)vs. Howard (Thurs., 7:10P, CBS)<\/p>\n
Staying with Michigan — since the Orlando Magic love their Michigan men — the Wolverines have several key potential NBA prospects floating in the first round. This is a talented team with many players who are playing NBA-style basketball.<\/p>\n
A big reason why Michigan’s defense is so tough is their backstop in Aday Mara.<\/p>\n
The 7-foot-3 big from Spain struggled in his first two years at UCLA, but something clicked at Michigan this season. He averaged 11.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and a Big Ten-leading 2.3 blocks per game.<\/p>\n
The shot-blocking is certainly something the Magic like to see. They block a lot of shots, but not as many from the center spots.<\/p>\n
Rookies who play above the rim, rim-run in pick and rolls and block shots find the court quickly simply because they play with energy and intensity.<\/p>\n
Mara will work mostly around the basket on offense, but he is an excellent passer from the high post. The Wolverines loved playing off their bigs as passers at the top of the key. That is a valuable asset too, especially if he is not a shooting threat.<\/p>\n
Mara will have to be bound to the paint. He is not quick enough to get out on the perimeter and play switches. But in a bench role that will not hurt too many teams.<\/p>\n
Orlando needs shot blocking and rim protection. And Mara is as strong as any player in the Draft at that.<\/p>\n
3. Motiejus Krivas (C, Arizona)vs. Long Island (Fri., 1:35P, TNT)<\/p>\n
Staying with the bigs, Motiejus Krivas is a big 7-footer who provided the backstop for likely lottery pick Koa Peate. Arizona played both bigs at the same time and ignored the three-point line for most of the season. They still found success.<\/p>\n
That should fit with the Orlando Magic, right?<\/p>\n
Krivas averaged 10.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He added 1.8 blocks per game. He shot 58.2 percent from the floor on 6.1 attempts per game.<\/p>\n
Krivas is an excellent rim protector even if his not a heavy shot blocker. And he has good mobility for a player his size. He probably should be higher on draft boards.<\/p>\n
4. Braden Smith (G, Purdue)vs. Queens University (Fri., 7:35P, truTV)<\/p>\n
Braden Smith had a quiet Big Ten Tournament run in helping the Boilermakers win the tournament. He came up big in the final with 14 points and 11 assists in the upset win over Michigan.<\/p>\n
Smith has been one of the most solid and reliable guards in the Big Ten throughout the season, averaging 14.0 points per game and 9.1 assists per game. He was named to the second-team AP All-American team. Smith has averaged more than seven assists the last three seasons, leading the Big Ten in the previous two seasons.<\/p>\n
Smith is not an elite shooter, and that is why he is a fringe first round prospect. He shot 36.5 percent from three, but is a 38.7 percent 3-point shooter for his career.<\/p>\n
The Magic are still developing Jase Richardson and likely do not want to bring in another smallish point guard — Richardson is a better scorer. But Smith is a solid veteran player and he can fit in a role. That will make him valuable if his skills translate.<\/p>\n
5. Rueben Chinyelu (C, Florida)vs. Prairie View A&M (Fri., 9:25P, TNT)<\/p>\n
We have to give some love to the hometown Florida Gators. <\/p>\n
The Gators are a high-scoring team that plays hounding defense and gets out to run. Thomas Haugh is a likely Lottery pick (or just outside of it now). But this is not a team filled with top-end NBA talent. They are just a well-coached team defending its championship.<\/p>\n
The one player I am interested in seeing in the NBA is big man Rueben Chinyelu. The guards and wings get a lot of attention, but it is Florida’s bigs and their defense that determine how far this team can go — as is always the case when Florida wins a national title.<\/p>\n
Chinyelu is a 6-foot-9 big averaging 11.2 points and an SEC-leading 11.5 rebounds per game. He blocked 1.1 shots per game.<\/p>\n
Chinyelu controls the paint and uses his size and weight well to battle on the block. He will not give a team much offensively beyond scavenging offensive rebounds and putbacks around the basket.<\/p>\n
Undersized bigs who work hard go a long way, though. And you cannot ignore a player who anchors a championship-level team. Chinyelu may be a late-first-round prospect. But he is someone worth looking into.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Typically, this would be the time to get a good introduction to the NBA Draft. The Orlando Magic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-198910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}