Magic President Jeff Weltman Speaks On Second Round Picks: 'It's Complicated'
The Orlando Magic hold the No. 1 pick in Thursday's draft, but the team won't be done after taking Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren or Paolo Banchero with the top pick.
The team holds two early second-round picks in the draft and have been using the majority of the team's pre-draft workouts on prospects in that range.
As we’ve seen in the past, teams can strike gold late in the draft, so the Magic know how important No. 32 and No. 35 are come Thursday.
“It’s complicated,” Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman said in a press conference. “We don’t want to spend ninety-nine percent of our time on the top pick and disregard these other two picks."
Especially considering that no matter who they go with at number one will only add to the youth, as none are currently able to legally purchase alcohol.
“How many rookies do we want this year,” Weltman asked during the press conference. “You know, we’ve got a young team already. How can we keep the pathway clear for our young players to develop? With that will come a whole bunch of explorations with what to do with those two picks.”
With a core entirely of players under the age of 25 and continuing to get better, the Magic front office has decisions to make this off-season. And it all starts Thursday night.
