In an NBA Draft highlighted by big stars, the Orlando Magic had a decent showing in this year’s Draft. There is some optimism in Orlando. The Magic acquired Anthony Black, and Jett Howard to pair with Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero.
The Orlando Magic get a grade of around a B as Black and Howard has the potential to be a special player, but some concerns made these picks a little confusing.
The Pros of Each Pick for Orlando Magic
Anthony Black
Anthony Black is elite in terms of his versatility. The 6’7” point guard is an elite defender. He has good size, length, and athleticism. More importantly, he possesses incredible instincts. Black averaged 2.1 steals due to his physical gifts, and intelligence on the defensive end of the court.
Additionally, Black is an excellent facilitator of basketball. He gets by his defenders well, and Black makes the right choices evidenced by having 141 total assists and 109 total turnovers. It would be better to get a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, but Black does make intelligent decisions and is good at getting to the basket.
Jett Howard
Howard had a productive First-year campaign at Michigan. The forward averaged 14.2 points a game and shot 36.8% from three-point range. He has size at 6’8” and 215 lbs and is a solid shooter. Orlando was 25th in three-point shooting percentage at 34.6%, so Howard addresses a need there for the Magic.
Furthermore, Howard has the potential to do more on the offensive end because of his size, ability to score, and age. He is also mobile, and athletic and can play multiple positions in the NBA. The Magic drafted him because he is a shooter with great size and potential.
Concerns for Orlando Magic
Unfortunately, there are questions surrounding these two picks. More specifically, there are questions surrounding the early pick of Howard.
The concern with Howard is that there were better shooters available when they went with Howard. Shooters like Gradey Dick and Jordan Hawkins, who both went farther in the NCAA Tournament and shot better from three, were both still on the draft board. If the issue is shooting, the Magic could have gone with more productive and consistent shooters. Scouts grasped that Howard yields a First-Round pick, yet they questioned why the Magic drafted him in the lottery.
As for Black, it is the shooting piece. Black is terrific in a lot of areas on the basketball court, but he only shot 30% from three in his first year at Arkansas. With a Magic team that already struggles from three, having three players that shoot 36% are worse than three is not a great recipe for creating spacing in their offense.
Why a B Grade?
The Magic receive a B grade. The Black pick is around an A- performance for the Magic. His versatility, productivity, and overall basketball IQ will help the Magic net better results. Furthermore, he was in the lottery in many mock drafts, so he is a good pick for the Magic.
On the other hand, Jett Howard is around a C+ grade for the Magic because they are banking on his potential and ability as a shotmaker to pan out. Moreover, there were more consistent shooters available in the Draft, so they took a big gamble on Howard, so they better have it work out.
