Orlando Magic: NBA Draft

Orlando Magic: NBA Draft Team Needs

Raphielle Johnson — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

2007-08 Record: 52-30; 1^st Southeast

Draft Picks: 22

Key Free Agents

G Carlos Arroyo

G Keyon Dooling

G/F Keith Bogans (player option)

How they got here and what they need

The season began in unfortunate fashion, with Billy Donovan first accepting the job opening then deciding that his heart was still in Gainesville. In came Stan Van Gundy and people didn't know what to expect from Orlando this season. And the Magic were able to make sure they had a shot at getting out of the first round, winning the Southeast Division thanks to the trio of Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. But once again the playoff savvy Pistons proved to be too much, but Stan Van Gundy has this team headed in the right direction.

In terms of where to look to improve this team, they need to bolster their bench some, with a little more emphasis on the wing. If they can find a guy with versatility on the offensive end and a willingness to defend off the bench, look for that guy to end up in Orlando.

Who they take

Despite the inconsistencies that litter his game (he's still young- 19 years old), France's Nicolas Batum may be the kind of player the Magic are looking for on the wing. Given the amount of talent they have returning next season, they can afford to give him time to develop as a player and put on a little more weight.

Draft History (since 2000)

2007: Reyshawn Terry (44)

2006: J.J. Redick (11), James Augustine (41), Lior Eliyahu (44)

2005: Fran Vasquez (11), Travis Diener (38), Martynas Andriuskevicius (44)

2004: Dwight Howard (1), Anderson Varejao (31), Antonio Burks (37)

2003: Reece Gaines (15), Zaza Pachulia (42)

2002: Curtis Borchardt (18)

2001: Steven Hunter (15), Jeryl Sasser (22), Omar Cook (32)

2000: Mike Miller (5), Keyon Dooling (10), Courtney Alexander (13)

Donovan Returning to Florida?..

Jeff Borzello — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:16:20 -0700

2006 NBA Draft Statistical Projection Recap

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:03:01 -0700

Every season, I project the future statistics of top NBA prospects. Before I get to this season's first projections for the 2007 prospects, I wanted to take a look back at 2006. Overall, I projected very meek stats for last year's class, and my lack of confidence turned out to be right. There just wasn't too much excitement. Luckily on the most part, my projections were pretty solid. Last year's stats. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/Draft/2006stats.htm PLAYER - PPG - RPG - APG - vs - Actual Stats LaMarcus Aldridge - 11,5,2 vs 9,5,0 Maurice Ager - 4,2,1 vs 2,1,0 Hilton Armstrong - 6,5,1 vs 3,3,1 Renaldo Balkman - 5,3,1 vs 5,4,1 Andrea Bargnani - 7,4,2 vs 12,4,1 Josh Boone - 4,3,1 vs 4,3,0 Ronnie Brewer - 8,3,2 vs 5,1,0 Denham Brown - 5,3,1 vs DNP Shannon Brown - 5,3,2 vs 2,10 Rodney Carney - 8,3,2 vs 7,2,1 Mardy Collins - 4,2,2 vs 5,2,2 Paul Davis - 4,3,1 vs 2,1,0 Quincy Douby - 8,3,2 vs 3,1,0 Jordan Farmar - 4,2,2 vs 4,2,2 Randy Foye - 9,4,4 vs 10,3,3 Joel Freeland - 3,2,1 vs DNP Rudy Gay - 8,4,2 vs 11,5,1 Bobby Jones - 4,2,1 vs 3,1,0 Solomon Jones - 3,3,1 vs 3,2,0 Kyle Lowry - 6,3,3 vs 6,3,3 Adam Morrison - 13,4,2 vs 12,3,2 David Noel - 3,2,1 vs 3,2,1 Steve Novak - 5,2,1 vs 2,1,0 Patrick O'Brient - 5,3,1 vs 2,1,1 Oleksiy Pecherov - 3,2,1 vs DNP Kosta Perovic - 3,3,1 vs DNP JJ Redick - 11,3,2 vs 6,1,1 Sergio Rodriguez - 4,2,2 vs 4,1,3 Rajon Rondo - 5,3,2 vs 6,4,4 Brandon Roy - 12,5,2 vs 17,4,4 Mouhamed Saer Sene - 3,3,1 vs 2,2,0 Thabo Sefolosha - 5,2,1 vs 4,2,1 Cedric Simmons - 7,4,1 vs 3,3,0 Craig Smith - 4,3,1 vs 7,5,1 Tyrus Thomas - 8,7,1 vs 5,4,1 PJ Tucker - 4,3,1 vs 2,1,0 Marcus Vinicius - 3,2,1 vs 2,1,0 Marcus Williams - 7,3,3 vs 7,2,3 Shawne Williams - 7,3,2 vs 4,2,1 Shelden Williams - 9,6,1 vs 6,5,1 All Stats Correct: Jordan Farmar (4,2,2 vs 4,2,2), Kyle Lowry (6,3,3 vs 6,3,3), David Noel (3,2,1 vs 3,2,1) 2 of 3 Stats Correct: Renaldo Balkman (5,3,1 vs 5,4,1 actual), Josh Boone (4,3,1 vs 4,3,0), Mardy Collins (4,2,2 vs 5,2,2), Thabo Sefolosha (5,2,1 vs 4,2,1), Marcus Williams (7,3,3 vs 7,2,3) All Stats Within 1 Besides Above: Rodney Carney (8,3,2 vs 7,2,1), Randy Foye (9,4,4 vs 10,3,3), Bobby Jones, Solomon Jones, Adam Morrison (13,4,2 vs 12,3,2), Sergio Rodriguez, Mohamed Saer sene, Marcus Vinicius. Best Projections: Nailing Farmar and Lowry's numbers were nice but a bit of a fluke. The more minutes and numbers a guy puts up, the harder it is to equal the actual stats. For that reason, the projections of Marcus Williams (off by barely a rebound a game), Randy Foye, and Adam Morrison above are better indications of my success. Overall, with the few exceptions noted below, I had everybody in the range that they finished.. and putting guys in the right band is ultimately what I'm trying to achieve. Worst Projections: The worst projection was Sacramento's Quincy Douby. He only had 4 units of production (pts, rbs, asts) as compared to my lofty 13 total. JJ Redick was another big underperformer. I projected 11,3,2 but he only put up 6,1,1.. basically half of expected production. Forwards Hilton Armstrong and Cedric Simmons also did worse than expected. Armstrong was projected at 12 units but only had 7, while Simmons was projected at 12 but only had 6. Andrea Bargnani and Brandon Roy surpassed my expectations, especially in terms of scoring average. Bargnani averaged an impressive 12 ppg last year compared to 7 ppf projection. Roy popped in 17 a game, compared to my 12. Check back in a few days for the 2007 statistical projections.

Sources: Donovan says yes to the Magic

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:46:21 -0700

Donovan to Accept Magic Job?

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 31 May 2007 13:30:39 -0700

NBA Pre-Draft Camp Roster

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 29 May 2007 19:11:33 -0700

The NBA Pre-Draft Camp is held in Orlando, at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. The Camp runs from Tuesday through Friday.

According to CHN's 6-Star Player Ranking, the best players in camp are Daequan Cook (3 stars), Jared Dudley (2 stars), Aaron Gray (2 stars), Dominic James (2 stars), Marcelus Kemp (2 stars), and Sean Singletary (2 stars)

2007 Pre-Draft Camp
Abukar, Mohamed
Boggan, Mario
Bradshaw, Craig
Brooks, Aaron
Brown, Bobby
Carter, Russell
Collins, Coleman
Cook, Daequan
Covile, Ryvon
Davidson, Jermareo
Doellman, Justin
Dowdell, Zabian
Dudley, Jared
Freeman, Rashaun
Gray, Aaron
Green, Caleb
Green, Taurean
Heath, Brandon
Hill, Herbert
Hosley, Quinton
Hughes, James
Hunt, Jeremy
Ibekwe, Ekene
James, Dominic
Johnson, Trey
Jones, Joseph
Jones-Jennings, Rashad
Jordan, Jared
Karl, Coby
Kavaliauskas, Antanas
Kemp, Marcelus
Landry, Carl
Lasme, Stephane
Lekic, Marko
Lewis, Ron
Martin, Cartier
Mays, James
McGuire, Dominic
Mejia, Sammy
Newley, Brad
Nichols, Demetris
Radenovic, Ivan
Reynolds, JR
Richard, Chris
Salisbery, Dustin
Schilb, Blake
Seibutis, Renaldas
Sessions, Ramon
Shakur, Mustafa
Singletary, Sean
Strawberry, DJ
Sumpter, Curtis
Sun Yue
Tatum, Jamaal
Terry, Reyshawn
Tolliver, Anthony
Traore, Ali
Visser, Kyle
Watkins, Darryl
Wingate, Major
Wood, DaShaun
Wyatt, Avis

Physical Only Players
Brewer, Corey
Conley, Jr. Michael
Crittenton, Javaris
Durant, Kevin
Green, Jeff
Hawes, Spencer
Horford, Al
Law, Acie
McRoberts, Josh
Noah, Joakim
Oden, Greg
Smith, Jason
Stuckey, Rodney
Thornton, Al
Wright, Brandan
Wright, Julian
Yi Jianlian
Young, Nick
Young, Thaddeus

List provided by NBA.com and is subject to change.