{"id":318000,"date":"2026-06-24T11:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T11:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/318000\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T11:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T11:59:11","slug":"5-realistic-nba-draft-prospects-the-magic-could-steal-at-no-46","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/318000\/","title":{"rendered":"5 realistic NBA Draft prospects the Magic could steal at No. 46"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NBA Draft officially tipped off inside Barclays Center on Tuesday. Though for the second-straight year, the Orlando Magic were without<\/a> a first-round pick. They were one of eight without a first-round draft choice, possessing only the No. 46 pick in this week’s two-day spectacle.<\/p>\n

Obviously, it’s much more difficult to “hit” on a player outside of the first-round, let alone outside the top-45. But in the aftermath of the first 30 choices being made, there is still some talent Orlando could pluck, depending on how the board falls from 30-40. <\/p>\n

Who could be a few realistic candidates? Let’s examine!<\/p>\n

Emanuel Sharp, G, Houston:\"Orlando<\/p>\n

Houston’s Emanuel Sharp (21) celebrates during a second-round game in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament between Houston Cougars and Texas A&M Aggies at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday March 21, 2026. | SARAH PHIPPS\/THE OKLAHOMAN \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Sharp immediately helps<\/a> the Magic alleviate their biggest need: Shooting. The Houston guard shot a career 37.6 percent from 3-point range on north of five attempts per game. He’s an excellent defender, is tough as nails (fitting seamlessly into Sean Sweeney’s culture) and could be the perfect 3-and-D fit to slot alongside Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane and Franz Wagner. You want players like Sharp in your building, point blank.<\/p>\n

Maliq Brown, C, Duke\"Orlando<\/p>\n

Duke Blue Devils forward Maliq Brown (6) rebounds March 21, 2026 during the NCAA Men\u2019s Basketball Tournament second round East Region game at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. | Ken Ruinard \/ USA Today Network South Carolina \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

I haven’t previously talked about Brown’s potential fit in Orlando. His offensive game remains quite raw without much upside, but hear me out. Could the Orlando Magic throw a dart at a high-energy big who rebounds, defends and does the little things, if either Goga Bitadze or Moe Wagner don’t return? Perhaps Brown — or a name like Tennessee’s Felix Okpara — is the answer to that question at a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n

Richie Saunders, G, BYU\"Orlando<\/p>\n

Feb 7, 2026; Provo, Utah, USA; BYU Cougars guard Richie Saunders (15) takes a free throw during the first half against the Houston Cougars at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Baker-Imagn Images | Aaron Baker-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

I can already feel you glaring at your screen. <\/p>\n

“Why should the Magic take a chance on a soon-to-be 25-year-old who is coming off a torn ACL? Don’t they already deal with enough injuries? Argh…….!!!!”<\/p>\n

Simply put, Saunders would be a fringe-top-25 or 30 prospect if he finished the season healthy. The BYU guard was a phenomenal second-fiddle alongside both Egor Demin and AJ Dybantsa pre-injury. We don’t know what the medicals look like. But Saunders averaged 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals on 48.9\/37.6\/81.7 shooting splits. You can talk me into that.<\/p>\n

Aaron Nkrumah, G, Tennessee State\"Orlando<\/p>\n

Mar 20, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Tennessee State Tigers guard Aaron Nkrumah (30) looks on against the Iowa State Cyclones during the first half of a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images | Jeff Le-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Nkrumah is on the skinnier side, listed at 6-foot-7, 189 pounds. But Tennessee State’s wing is a sneaky 3-and-D under-the-radar prospect who could see his name called Wednesday. <\/p>\n

The 24-year-old was quite impressive in his combine scrimmages and features good length (6’10.25″ wingspan, 8’8 standing reach) with intriguing two-way potential. He averaged 17.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and a remarkable 2.8 steals (!!) as a senior. He’s skinny, but he’s incredibly disruptive and worth considering in the middle of the second.<\/p>\n

Ryan Conwell, G, Louisville\"Orlando<\/p>\n

Mar 19, 2026; Buffalo, NY, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Ryan Conwell (3) drives to the basket against South Florida Bulls guard Wes Enis (2) during the second half during a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Keybank Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

I think Conwell will be a much better shooter than his 34.5 percent indicated last season. He will function much better off-ball, where he can light it up from deep, attack closeouts and finish at the rim. He’ll have to grow as a defender and playmaker. But as a microwave scorer off the bench, Conwell would fit with Orlando — where he could also be covered up by some of the Magic’s better defenders.<\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NBA Draft officially tipped off inside Barclays Center on Tuesday. Though for the second-straight year, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-318000","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\/318000","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=318000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}