10 Targets the Magic should consider in the 2020/21 Draft

By Ramin Baiat

With the 2020 draft just around the corner, I decided to give a quick breakdown of some options the Magic will have in this draft whether they move up, stay or move down. Most guys, however, are roughly in the range of pick 15. My thought process when looking at prospects is to zoom in on their individual skills, tools, and IQ then put together what role I think they can carry in the NBA, based on which of those skills they are already good at or projectable at. Once I’ve found a range of realistic roles and valued them, then I have an idea of how much I like a guy, how big a risk he is, and where I’d be willing to take a bet on him in the draft. With that said, here are 10 potential targets for the Magic:

Cole Anthony - Cole has everything skill-wise that seems to fill the offense gaps of this team. The aggressive minded Anthony is arguably the best pull-up shooter in the class, can create his own shots and for others, and can space & play off the ball. Not the biggest guy at 6’2 with a reported 6’3 wingspan but his toughness, motor, strength & anticipation make him a strong PG defender. Had a rough year showing worse than expected finishing at the rim and dealt with athleticism hindering injury at UNC. Not the easiest player to evaluate due to UNC/injury context issues but seems to have a wide range of realistic outcomes that all span in the realm of positive value for pick 15. Comparable to guys like Devontae Graham, Fred VanVleet & pre-bubble Jamal Murray-ish (if the burst & finishing return to pre-UNC level)

Tyrese Maxey - Many people question whether Maxey is a 1 or 2. Though most agree he is the best guard defender in the class who can positively handle both ones and twos, so it doesn’t really matter too much what offensive role he plays. On offense, Maxey is a bit of a mixed bag already showing a top 2 layup package in the class along with solid pull-up shooting, foul drawing & solid baseline of general playmaking/ball movement. How far he can take his own advantage creation is what will determine his ceiling. Whether he can develop the handle and/or the pull up to high levels remains to be seen but for a player with plus defense, transition play, IQ, motor, character, and a solid package of skills, it’s tough to not see top half of the lotto talent. Maxey has a range of guys he can be something the realm of Bobby Jackson, Derrick White & Jrue Holiday-light seems fitting.

RJ Hampton - The argument for RJ is he has arguably the best tools in the class driving a solid handle, passing ability & and a bit of shot indicators. It’s not often we see guys come in with that package and fail. The argument against RJ is he’s currently just not very good at basketball despite his tools and skills. A pretty high variance outcome guy who will need a lot of development to turn out well. Encouragingly he demonstrated a high work ethic and in-game effort while accepting a small role for the New Zealand Breakers, which is something he’ll have to do in the NBA. Overall the higher ceiling provided by skill/tool baseline seems too good to not take a swing on at 15. His outcomes range in the Dennis Smith jr, Alec Burks, Monte Ellis, maybe higher.

Theo Maledon - One of the more slept on prospects is Frenchman Theo Maledon. The 6’5 shoot, pass, dribble lead man has spent the last 2 years as the PG for the best team in the French league as well as getting regular play in the second-best league in the world, the Euroleague. Unlike most of his counterparts in the class, Theo was very much a cog of a well oiled machine of vets that produced winning on high levels. Theo brings one of the most well rounded baselines of skills and ability in the class. He has arguably the best pick and roll game in the class, plus off-ball movement & shooting, and very nice closeout attacking. It’s hard to see a world where Theo isn’t a plus offensive player and capable of handling a solid load. Concerns about his athleticism and defense are both fair yet seem overstated as both seem solid. Theo is functionally athletic and capable. I doubt he’s ever explosive enough to be a consistent iso threat, which prevents him from ever being a #1 guy, but he definitely moves well enough for everything else. Theo doesn’t seem like he’ll ever be overly plus on defense yet his tools (6’9 wingspan), effort, and IQ should lead to solid output on this end. Overall a very solid prospect. Hard guy to comp directly but he’s got bits and pieces of Dinwiddie, Leveret, Derrick White, Jamal Murray & Shai. Please do not take any of those as direct comps.

Kira Lewis Jr - Kiras' game is based on speed, able to push the pace and penetrate at a high clip where his drive and kick ability punishes rotating defenses, and his jumpers prevents them from cheating under/off him. Kira has a solid set of skills to play on-ball or space and shoot off-ball. His biggest issue is pretty extreme contact aversion at the hoop that really hurts his efficiency converting there or drawing fouls to up his effectiveness. This will need to be addressed heavily as it reduces his best ability, getting to the rim. Solid defensive playmaking and effort on ball. Though, can be taken advantage of by bigger guards that he’ll likely see a fair amount of in the NBA. Overall Kira seems like he’ll be a solid starting caliber PG though not high ceiling unless he makes big improvements with his low baseline of dealing with contact at the hoop. Something like supped-up Darren Collison sounds right.

Josh Green - Josh Green’s allure starts with his defense and transition play. Bringing a heavy dose of both tools/explosion and IQ, Josh excels guarding a variety of wings and guards on the perimeter able to lock them down and make a fair amount of defensive plays leading to transition. Here his passing and finishing really shine. In the half-court, he’s currently limited to mostly stationary catch and shoot ability where he was solid. His bigger concerns are poor handle and pretty terrible finishing in the half-court (8%ile, per synergy) mostly because of extreme right-hand dominance. His skill package is on the low side but his quick and smart decision-making, confidence, and tools are reasons to buy development. Overall Josh seems like he’ll be a solid role player, good at role things but unlikely to cross into a more on-ball role down the line.

Tyrell Terry - Arguably the best overall shooter in the class and incredibly smart with solid passing. Terry has both the smarts and quick release to get shots off at a high rate and through tight windows. The unfortunate downside is a very poor tool package standing around 6’2 with a reported neutral wingspan and bad burst & strength. Overall Tyrell seems limited but highly likely to be a good off-ball mover/shooter, good ball mover, yet with poor defense. Small chance extreme hard work boosts him higher than that but I’m pretty confident we’re talking about a Seth Curry type player which is both very useful yet limited.

Killian Hayes - Another large French PG, Killian has a plus baseline of tools, handle, pull-ups passing, and defense. In fact, the passing is only second to Lamelo in the class. He is however a lot rawer than usually given credit for as an on-ball player, and also a poor off-ball player. Usually sold as a steady and smart prospect, which rings true in some aspect of his game, as a scorer he is rather reckless with poor decision making. Some of this can be attributed to being the lead guy on a poor team who is trying to develop his game but clearly, both his scoring floor and ceiling are lower than advertised. Nonetheless, the positives are easy to see and his competition in the lottery isn’t exactly daunting. Seems like a good bet to be a solid all-around player, though one that will need time to develop. The usual comps are DLO and Brogdon. But it's more like Brogdons’ D, DLO passing, worse off ball player than either, and pull-up game in between the two.

Devin Vassell - Few players in this draft I would be more comfortable saying will be a good player than the 6’7 FSU alums Devin Vassell. It’s clear the sophomore is already good at enough things to be solid. Mostly his off-ball defensive playmaking and early rotations, as well as solid on-ball D, make him pretty much a lock to be plus on that side of the ball in the NBA. Further, he shot very well from 3 on volume, enough so to buy that translating with a high degree of confidence. His next biggest draw was just really good decision making & game processing. He had a ridiculously low amount of turnovers and fouls even though carrying solid usage and being involved in a lot on offense. On top of that, he showed a solid, yet not spectacular, pull-up game and had a bit of success at the hoop. Average handle, tools, rim pressure, and foul drawing make it unlikely he’s ever a high usage guy in the NBA but he’ll clearly be a good role player maybe even a very good one. Guys he compares to are Doug Christie, Mikal Bridges-lite.

Aleksej Pokusevski - The man represented as a mystery box, coming out of the same obscure league Giannis did, seems like a fairly clear prospect to me. Poku is a fluid 6’11 forward with a 7’3 wingspan who can, pass, dribble, shoot, and make plays on defense. Painfully skinny at the moment and it shows when he tries to finish at the hoop, putting on weight seems the biggest obstacle for Aleksej. Though, as is usually the case with NBA prospects he should get up to functional strength level in time. His role in the NBA points to a high-frequency good and versatile big man shooter, who can put the ball on the floor vs closeouts, playmaker a bit, grab and go in transition and at least make good rotations as a defender that lead to high steal and block rates. All together that seems like the top forward to me. He’s very unique so comps are hard for him but something like Detlef Schrempf sounds OK.

In my opinion, it seems the Magic will have a lot of good options at 15 and that there isn’t much of a difference between the players at the top of the draft and what will be there at 15 (outside of Lamelo Ball). At least not enough so to give up assets for the leap. My hope is the Magic stay put unless there is a good value play trade made available to them.

Thanks for reading and stay tunes for more Magic content.

Stephen CameronNovember 16, 2020Comment