Orlando Magic stick to their principles on shocking draft night
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 22: Jett Howard (R) poses with NBA commissioner Adam Silver (L) after being drafted 11th overall pick by the Orlando Magic during the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Anthony Black always has a chip on his shoulder.
That is the way he likes to play and that is why he plays with such ferocity and tenacity.
The sixth overall pick in the NBA Draft staked out his reputation as an ace defender, getting after players and guarding almost anyone on the perimeter with his size and athleticism.
He led the SEC in minutes played at 34.9 minutes per game. And he played the NCAA Tournament second round against Kansas on a badly sprained ankle, gutting through the game and helping his team to a win.
The fact he scored only four points in that game shows his success is not defined by his scoring output.
Black is not someone anybody can easily knock down. That is something that really stands out.
“To be honest, I play like the underdog because that’s really who I was for most of my basketball career,” Black said to the Orlando media after the Draft. “I try to play with a chip on my shoulder and go out there and prove somebody wrong every night on the court and then be tough and do stuff that my team needs me to do to win.”
This is only part of what stood out about Black to the Orlando Magic. Because so much of what and who Black is defines the kind of things the Magic look for. Right down to that chip on his shoulder and the determination to go out and win.
The Orlando Magic surprised many with their selection on draft night. But the team held to their principles and the kind of team they ultimately want to build as they selected Anthony Black and Jett Howard.
The theme throughout the night for the Magic came down to this kind of toughness to gut things out — Jett Howard, the Magic’s 11th pick in the draft, said he played through several ankle injuries that left him at 50 percent in the latter part of the season — and good feel for the game are what the Magic are looking for.
When you think about the kinds of players the Magic look for — big, positionally versatile, long, smart and selfless — the Magic’s two picks in the first round of this draft seemingly check those boxes.
At the end of the day, the Magic are drafting the players that fit their eye. Their focus is on the principles that they want to build upon.
“We approached this draft wanting to add IQ, defensive versatility, size, team orientation and Anthony is one of the smartest players in the draft. Maybe the smartest,” Weltman said after teh Magic made their selections. “We feel he has elite level understanding of the game. He is a multi-positional defender at a very high level. Not just he can guard gusy but he can guard guys well. He’s the type of guy who is selfless. His game represents who he is as a person. He is all about his teammates. He is all about raising the ceiling for others. And he is a unique talent.”
This feels like a checklist for everything the Magic look for. Perhaps it is form fitted to justify their pick. But these traits track the other things the Magic typically look for.
That basketball IQ though is something the Magic put a lot of value on.
They want to build a lineup where everyone feels interchangeable and capable of making plays. The team might bristle at that notion of positionless basketball, but it truly seems to animate their choices here.
They believe Black can play all three wing positions — he certainly can defend all three positions — and believe he can fit in with the Magic’s guards. And Black said he was eager to defend the best players in the league.
There was no concern about him having to battle the other guards for playing time or for his spot.
The Magic believe that every player is going to have to earn his minutes this season anyway.
As Black put it, he feels he can fit in with this young roster. Putting talent together and letting them play and create for each other is at the center of everything the magic do. They have playmaking bigs in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. And now they have added another playmaker.
It is just about putting the pieces together and seeing which combinations the Magic have can gel.
“It’s guys that just understand where to be, when to move, when to cut, when to make the simple pass,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after the Magic made their picks Thursday. “Both these guys are able to do that. Just making their teammates better. Guys who can just fit in seamlessly into whatever we are doing and how fast we play, just being able to make quick decisions to make their teammates better.”
The same goes for Howard. While he does not have the same defensive identity, his shooting will undoubtedly be valuable for the Magic. The gravity he brings with him was almost a necessity for this team.
Howard averaged 14.2 points per game while shooting 36.8 percent from beyond the arc and 80.0 percent from the foul line. He revealed to the Orlando media — and Weltman hinted in his availability — that Howard played the majority of the season with an ankle injury that limited his mobility.
He entered the draft process with a poor defensive reputation. But Weltman stressed the team sees strong defensive potential in him — as does Howard in himself. He is more than a shooter.
“With the NBA, I feel like there is more space,” Howard said after the Draft. “There is more space to create for yourself and there is more space to create for others. I feel like a I do a good job at that. I also think I can defend and compete. Throughout this year I deal twith a lot of ankle injuries so it was harder for me to do that. I feel like over time it is going to show.”
Space is certainly the name of the game and the big thing the Magic needed. On a base level, Orlando satisfied that by betting on Howard and his shooting ability. That is not something the Magic have always focused on.
Still, Magic fans felt a bit confused over the two picks. They were not the players they perhaps had on their boards or the conventional boards and mock drafts they relied on.
But that is not really what the draft is about. It is about finding players who fit the team’s personality and personnel.
There are still questions about how this will all come together.
“We just talk about competitor sand guys who want to compete night in and night out,” Mosley said after the Magic made their picks Thursday. “These are two men who are very capable of that. Two great characters kid who can step right away into this group and add value with on and off the court activity. They are going to raise the level up a ton.”
At the end of the day, this is at the heart of what the Magic want. These rookies are not going to be gifted minutes. They do not automatically unseat anyone in the rotation. And it will be up to Mosley to figure out how to assemble these pieces successfully.
There will be a spirit of competition that neither player seems like they will shy away from. They appear to embrace the challenges ahead of them.
Especially as the team aims to start winning. At their heart, this seems to be what the team is looking for most.
“I just like winning games,” Black said to the Orlando media Thursday. “I know if we play good defense, we will probably win the games, so I try to do that.”
As Jett’s father, former Magic forward and Michigan coach Juwan Howard, told him after the Draft, “The Draft is over, it’s time to get to work.”
Whether that will be how this turns out remains to be seen. But the Magic have a type and they continued to draft to that type.
They hope that philosophy will pull them through.
Source: Orlando Magic Daily
