Magic Involved in Draft Trade Discussions; Big 'Swing' Coming?
ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic currently holds one of the most unique hands in the NBA when all 30 teams come together for Thursday's draft.
With the Nos. 6 & 11 picks, the Magic can get creative by moving up or down and acquiring more assets or the team can opt to take who it feels as the best player at that point in the draft.
"We've had those discussions like, does this allow us to take a swing? What does that mean? You can like create like endless levers if this, then that, literally dozens of them," Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said.
The Magic has reason to make a trade. As the only team with two lottery picks in the draft, Orlando could package those picks to move up, possibly with a team like the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 3 or Houston Rockets at No. 4. The team also has a strong core, all of whom are expected to return next season, and minutes will be hard to come by for one rookie, let alone two lottery-level talents.
Weltman explained how the team always looks towards the players first before it makes any decisions about trades within the draft or outside with veteran players on other teams.
"It's all about getting to know the players, getting to know them as people, how they would fit here," Weltman said.
While trying to see which rookies may fit based on their style of play among other attributes, Weltman also explained how he doesn't look to compromise what the players currently on the roster bring to the table.
The NBA is a people-oriented business at the end of the day, and the Magic will look to bring in whichever person(s) it believes will get the team closer to a title.
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