{"id":41486,"date":"2021-08-01T15:03:41","date_gmt":"2021-08-01T19:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=41486"},"modified":"2021-08-01T15:03:41","modified_gmt":"2021-08-01T19:03:41","slug":"orlando-magic-escape-draft-night-as-a-major-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2021\/08\/01\/orlando-magic-escape-draft-night-as-a-major-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic Escape Draft Night as a Major Winner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Orlando Magic entered the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/basketball\/nba\/nba-draft\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">2021 NBA Draft<\/a> in a tough spot with picks five and eight. This was seen as a top-heavy draft with picks one to four considered the <em>creme-de-la-creme\u00a0<\/em>in this class. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/raptors\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Toronto Raptors<\/a> made a surprise choice, gifting Orlando one of the best prospects in this class.<\/p>\n<h2>2021 NBA Draft: Orlando Magic Grades<\/h2>\n<h3>Jalen Suggs Brings Tenacity and Flair to O-Town<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With the #5 pick, the Orlando Magic select Jalen Suggs from the University of Gonzaga.<\/p>\n<p>2020-21 AVERAGES:<\/p>\n<p>14.4 points<br \/>5.3 rebounds<br \/>4.5 assists<br \/>50.3 &#8211; 33.7 &#8211; 75.4<\/p>\n<p>GRADE: A+ <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HRmbl658PA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/HRmbl658PA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Thunder Roundtable (@NBASkoolOfThort) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBASkoolOfThort\/status\/1421036830238011395?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 30, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Originally considered as one of the\u00a0<em>blue-chippers<\/em> up until draft night, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/suggsja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Suggs<\/a> <\/strong>surprisingly fell to the Magic at number five. Suggs had a wonderful season at Gonzaga which featured an epic half-court game-winner to send them to the NCAA Final. The 22-year-old is a leader amongst men and showed a tenacity most teams covet.<\/p>\n<p>There is some conjecture regarding his ceiling as a player but Suggs falls under the\u00a0<em>hooper\u00a0<\/em>category. He is a winner and knows how to win games. The Magic should be cheering with this selection at five.<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Grade: A+<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;10018&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>Franz Wagner Adds a Two-way Punch at the Forward Spot<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With #8 pick in the Orlando Magic select Franz Wagner from the University of Michigan<\/p>\n<p>2020-21 AVERAGES:<\/p>\n<p>12.5 points<br \/>6.5 rebounds<br \/>3.0 assists<br \/>47.7 &#8211; 34.3 &#8211; 83.5<\/p>\n<p>GRADE: A <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HaJyhkseGr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/HaJyhkseGr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Thunder Roundtable (@NBASkoolOfThort) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBASkoolOfThort\/status\/1421037469688946688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 30, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wagnefr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Franz Wagner<\/a><\/strong> is a solid player that fills a real need for the Magic at the three and four spots. Highly coveted by multiple teams, Wagner will make an instant impact defensively mirroring his time at Michigan State.<\/p>\n<p>Universally considered a high-end role player, Orlando snagged a smart, intelligent forward to pair with Suggs. This was another excellent pick by the Magic who beat teams like Memphis and Sacramento to the spot.<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Grade: A<\/span><\/h4>\n<h3>Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n<p>The Orlando Magic came into the draft as a team in the\u00a0<em>toughest\u00a0<\/em>spot and made out like bandits. While Suggs adds to a jam at the guard spot, he is considerably better than others on the roster not named <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/fultzma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Markelle Fultz<\/a><\/strong>. Wagner slots in as a versatile forward and appears ready to contribute right away.<\/p>\n<p>Orlando&#8217;s front office has done a great job since trading away core pieces <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vucevni01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Vucevic<\/a> <\/strong>and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/fournev01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Fournier<\/a><\/strong> last season. Times appear to be changing.<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Overall Grade: A+<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"qKW9luHeSDlBKT-QTbzykQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1330967365\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'qKW9luHeSDlBKT-QTbzykQ',sig:'m8j0FHiffgzedB9Vl_10RK1yp6oYvkIiMjDLOOfJAnc=',w:'594px',h:'424px',items:'1330967365',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Orlando Magic entered the 2021 NBA Draft in a tough spot with picks five and eight. This was seen as a top-heavy draft with picks one to four considered the creme-de-la-creme\u00a0in this class. The Toronto Raptors made a surprise choice, gifting Orlando one of the best prospects in this class. 2021 NBA Draft: Orlando [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3477,"featured_media":41527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1608,62,556],"tags":[4127,3259],"class_list":["post-41486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magic","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-franz-wagner","tag-jalen-suggs"],"modified_by":"Zach Kircher","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}