Based on the latest NBA mock drafts, the one conclusion that can be made is that nobody has any idea who the Magic are really going to take. Predictions vary widely and, in the mocks below, there are six different players that the experts have the Magic taking. In a few short hours, we will no longer have to speculate and we’ll find out who the Magic are really getting. Until then, here is a collection of final mock drafts from around the web. As for SB Nation’s own Ricky O’Donnell, he has the Magic taking Wendell Carter Jr. Click on each publication for the full draft. Also be sure to check out the mock draft round-up we did the night after the Draft Lottery. ESPN - Magic select Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Teams are getting mixed signals from Orlando about their intentions at No. 6. Some feel they are picking between guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Trae Young, while others see this as a BPA situation, with Bamba and Carter strongly in the mix. ESPN Mock: https://t.co/JZ0l0l1Ksd — Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 21, 2018 Teams are getting mixed signals from the Magic about their intentions here. Some sources around the league say they are picking between guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Trae Young and Collin Sexton, while others feel like this will be more of a best-player-available situation, with Bamba and Carter strongly in the mix. Gilgeous-Alexander is picking up steam late, despite the fact that he hasn’t conducted a workout with any team outside of his agency’s pro day. His size, length and versatility could be very attractive this high. His offense made significant strides as the season went on, and NBA teams feel he’s only starting to scratch the surface on his potential. -- Jonathan Givony ESPN - Magic select Michael Porter Jr. (A mock draft showing who each team should take rather than who they will take) Teams that got access to Porter’s medicals at an evaluation last week will have a better idea of whether long-term concern about his back surgery should knock Porter down the draft board. Assuming he checks out, Porter projects as a top-five prospect by my model because of his strong performance in AAU games as part of the Nike EYBL. I slightly favored him over AAU teammate Trae Young because of concerns over Young’s size on defense. -- Kevin Pelton CBS Sports - Magic select Trae Young If Michael Porter Jr. is off the board at this point, and I think he will be, I believe Orlando is ready to go and get Young. The pre-draft process can lead to a lot of groupthink (if not deception) on certain prospects. I don’t think it makes sense to let a player who was as prolific as Young drop below sixth or seventh in this draft. No prospect in this crop was as good at any one thing last season as Trae Young was at passing the ball and effectively distributing it. Then you take into consideration how good his shot is and how crafty he is around the rim. I can’t talk myself into dropping him. Orlando needs a star. Young is that. The Magic were bottom-tier in offense and 3-point shooting last season. -- Matt Norlander Sports Illustrated - Magic select Wendell Carter Jr. The Magic have made attempts to move up to No. 3, offering this pick and at least one future first-rounder, as SI’s Jake Fischer reported yesterday. Speculatively, that may signal a belief that neither Bamba or Jackson, the two players who best fit Orlando’s prerogative, will fall to six. While the Magic have a need for star talent and might be tempted by Michael Porter or Trae Young, Orlando can also ill-afford to whiff on this selection. There’s a school of thought that Carter is one of the safest picks in the entire draft. If the Magic are devoid of better options, it makes more sense to hit a double or triple rather than risk striking out. Orlando will likely have more opportunities to sift for a star in the next couple drafts, given their present trajectory. -- Jeremy Woo Bleacher Report - Magic select Mo Bamba In Mohamed Bamba, new Magic head coach Steve Clifford lands a defensive anchor to build around. It could also mean putting Nikola Vucevic on the trade block, but Orlando will worry about roster fit later on. The Magic’s logjam up front won’t stop them from acquiring the best available talent. Bamba’s 7’10” wingspan and flashes of shooting touch fuel some of the most unique potential in the draft. Trae Young and Collin Sexton will earn consideration here as well, but assuming the front office sees Bamba as the superior prospect, it won’t take a point guard just to fill a need. -- Jonathan Wasserman The Ringer - Magic select Trae Young I’m turning the card in early. You know those picks where they don’t even take the time on the clock; they just turn it in ’cause they’ve got their guy? [That’s] Trae Young. In a lot of mock drafts, it’s between Mo Bamba and Trae Young here. I don’t think it’s much of a decision. He’s what the Magic need. There are a lot of potential downsides to him, but I just think what the Magic need to get out of their six-year tailspin is scoring, excitement, and superstar potential, and that’s what Trae Young has. … I think that [new coach Steve] Clifford can scheme the defense into a point that it’s OK—the fact that [Young’s] a limited defender doesn’t worry me. I think that a Steve Clifford team can carry a Trae Young on defense. -- Kevin Clark USA Today - Magic select Jaren Jackson Jr. Jackson’s pro potential – length, timing, ability to stretch the floor and defensive versatility – was always evident even if not necessarily showcased at Michigan State. --USA Today staff Sporting News - Magic select Wendell Carter Jr. The Magic’s selection here remains one of the tougher picks to project. Not much information has flowed out of Orlando, which makes sense, as there are a number of scenarios that could go down. The team has brought Carter in for a workout, and although one of the point guards would make sense to fill a positional need, the 6-10 center would give the Magic a frontcourt building block for the future once the contracts of Bismack Biyombo and Nikola Vucevic expire. Carter’s offensive game is an excellent fit for the modern NBA. --Chris Stone NBA.com - Magic select Collin Sexton Need, meet player. Sexton has been very impressive both in pre-Draft workouts and in his interviews with prospective teams. The Magic’s decade-plus chasm at the point has to end. Sexton can score with the best of them, and while his playmaking is a work in progress, he’ll likely get better at finding open guys with detailed coaching and being with better players. Defensively, there’s a reason he’s been compared with Patrick Beverley; Sexton’s give a bleep meter is high. If Young were still on the board here Orlando would have a choice to make, and maybe they’d go for Young. But if he’s off the board already, there is no choice. Take Sexton. -- David Aldridge Yahoo - Magic select Jaren Jackson Jr. The 6-11 Jackson has said he wants to become the next Anthony Davis. The good news? Jackson is only 18 and has tangible offensive upside (he shot 39.6 percent from three) with remarkable defensive versatility. The bad news? He doesn’t handle the ball well and has a basic arsenal of offensive moves. -- Jordan Schultz UPROXX - Magic select Trae Young The Magic have the league’s worst point guard situation and a startling lack of high-end offensive creation. Young would seemingly address both issues, even with all of his weaknesses. He is an underrated (and fantastic) passer and, if the shooting pops in the way that it could, Young will make the Magic look quite intelligent at this slot. -- Brad Rowland Basketball Insiders: With four different writers making picks, the Magic take: Michael Porter Jr., Collin Sexton, and Trae Young (twice) NBADraft.net: Wendell Carter Jr.<doc-sep>The big day is finally here. The Orlando Magic are on the clock with the sixth pick. Where will they go and how will the draft shake out? The big day has finally arrived. The NBA Draft will take place in a few hours and the Orlando Magic are on the clock with the sixth pick. A whole season of frustration — and maybe tanking — has led up to this pick. There is a lot of pressure to get this pick right for sure. After six years of missing the playoffs and failing to win more than 35 games, the Magic seem ripe for change. It seems like it is time for the team to take a step forward and make a change. Everyone seems to know the team is shifting gears and looking to turn the roster over. And so it begins. . . likely with this NBA Draft. The one that president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said scouts have been looking forward to for a long time. The Magic believe they will get someone impactful no matter what happens. A lot can happen. Rumors are going to fly all day until the big day arrives. And things will remain very fluid. It is not entirely clear what direction the Magic want to go with the pick. Will they go with a guard and scoring or will they go with the big men that populate this draft? What effect will this draft have on how the team builds in the future? These are among the big questions facing the team. The draft is a chance for renewed hope. But also a chance to take a huge gamble. There will surely be trades that happen throughout the evening that change the NBA’s landscape. And maybe even the Magic’s landscape could change Thursday night. It is time now to make these final predictions. With the draft on the way, it is time for the final mock draft before the actual draft goes down. Who will the Magic take and what else should we watch out for? Read on. . .<doc-sep>SB Nation’s Orlando Magic blog Orlando Pinstriped Post explains the pick: Moving on from Evan Fournier wasn’t an easy decision. However, with Terrence Ross returning from injury, and some good depth on the wing in the early portion of the second round, moving on from Fournier made sense. Gallinari will be able to come in and fill a little bit of that need at the three, and give us more depth as well. Moving back up to slecet Elie Okobo gives us our point guard of the future. He’s been playing proessionally in France, so he has some experience, and could be a great fit for us moving forward. He has the ability to score the ball, and can initiate the offense at a high level. There will undoubtedly be a learning curve moving from France to the NBA, but Okobo gives us someone who can fill the point guard spot for the foreseeable future. These are the terms of the trade in our Blogger Mock Draft between the Los Angeles Clippers and Orlando Magic: SB Nation’s L.A. Clippers blog Clips Nation explains the trade: After happily landing our preferred guard with the 12th pick, and with the aforementioned wing targets already off the board, moving the 13th pick became a much more attractive avenue than either selecting another guard or reaching for a wing. We had anticipated that SGA and Miles Bridges being available at 12 and 13 was probably unlikely, so we had happily engaged in trade talks for the 13th pick leading up to the draft. We discussed multiple frameworks with numerous teams, but ultimately preferred to target Evan Fournier over other available established wings. We value Fournier’s scoring and shooting ability on the wing immensely, and think he’ll be an excellent fit next to Tobias Harris going forward. He’s also the same age as Tobias, at 25 years old, a much better fit for our new, evolving core than the 29-year-old Gallinari. We know that Danilo is better than his inefficient, injury-riddled 21 games last season, but between his age, injury history, and contract situation, we made moving him one of this off-season’s priorities. Due to his large deal with two years remaining, no teams were interested in taking a flier on Gallinari without sending the Clippers other bad contracts in return. While we were unable to eliminate that cap hit entirely, spending on a player who fits into our core is much more palatable. Fournier also makes over $5 million less than Gallinari in 2019-20, which will make creating cap space next summer easier.<doc-sep>
Every year, 30 members of the SB Nation NBA team blogs get together for a mock draft ahead of the actual NBA Draft. Yet again, I stepped in to take the reigns making picks for the Orlando Magic. Yet again, I tried, and tired again to make moves to make the team, potentially, significantly better. Some of those talks fell flat (looking at you, Sacramento) while others grew some legs and either came close to being completed, or did actually get completed. That, in turn, is much like what Thursday night’s draft will be like. Teams will talk, and talk, and talk a little more before deciding if they should move up, down, move their pick entirely, or just make their selection. Now, I made a couple of big runs at picks. I did my best Danny Ainge impersonation and offered a handful of first round picks to our friends at Bright Side of the Sun in an effort to draft Luka Doncic. That didn’t work. I also almost acquired the fourth pick and Marc Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies, but talks, and packages, fell apart. Ultimately, much like I expect the Magic to do on Thursday night, I held onto the sixth pick and took... Texas center Mohammad Bamba. I felt, with the players on the board, Bamba was the best selection. He has all the tools to be a high end rim protector, and could become one of the best defensive centers in the league. Pairing him with Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon would give the Magic a formidable defensive unit for many years to come. I had the chance to draft the likes of Trae Young, Collin Sexton and even Michael Porter Jr, but their red flags all scared me away. Young and Sexton both have a lot of questions surrounding them on the defensive end, and Porter’s highly covered back injury scared me away from him. Now, I still have a gaping hole at point guard. As the picks continued to trickle in, Sexton began to slide. Kentucky’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still sat there, as well as French national point guard Elie Okobo. Holding two picks in the late lottery, the Los Angeles Clippers intrigued me. They had interest in Evan Fournier, and I had interest in one of those picks to move back in and get my point guard. So, we talked, and struck a deal. I flipped Evan Fournier for the 13th pick, and Danilo Gallinari. While I added some salary in the short term, it potentially opens up $17 million in two years when Fournier will have a fifth-year option on his contract. With the Magic entering yet another rebuild, adding that little bit of salary wasn’t that big of a hit, especially to get the lottery pick to take... Elie Okobo. I was set on taking Gilgeous-Alexander, but the Clippers took him 12th, prompting me to debate between Sexton and Okobo. Sexton, in a lot of ways, reminds me of the second coming of Elfrid Payton, which ended poorly for the Magic, so I went with a little more of an unknown in Okobo. Our very own Aaron Goldstone has hyped up Okobo a good bit. Aaron had this to say when I asked him about the French guard. Okobo has a really nice looking stroke. Left-handed, quick and consistent release. He seems on film to be a really fluid athlete. I like his size at 6-3 as a lead guard. He’s also been competeting in the top league in France against professionals for two seasons. As long as he can continue to develop his point guard skills, I think he will be fairly ready to play in the NBA. Seems like he could be a real problem in the pick-and-roll. Adequate vision, great shot, decent ability to beat people off the dribble. Mostly, I like his shooting/scoring. At the spot you picked him, he’s the proverbial “swing for the fences”. Love the upiside; also I recognize the uncertainty of Okobo and understand he could bust. At this point, taking a big swing made sense. It freed up the opportunity to take a wing with one of the second round picks, and even possibly move back into the end of the first round for one. I walked away from the draft happy. I was able to move some long-term money, and get two players who I think can make a real impact on the team.