NBA Draft: Can Dereck Lively Improve Magic 'Defensive Identity'?

Duke center Dereck Lively is flying up draft boards in recent weeks. Could the Orlando Magic be the lucky team to select him?

The Orlando Magic currently has the No. 11 pick in the NBA Draft and could look into taking Duke center Dereck Lively II with the selection.

The Magic could benefit from drafting Lively, arguably one of the better rim protectors in the draft.

Lively is a 7-1 center with a staggering 7-7 wingspan, who played one season at Duke before declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft. He was a consensus five-star recruit in his high school class. He started 27 of 34 games for the Blue Devils and averaged 5.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in 20.6 minutes per game. He shot 65.8 percent from the floor, 72.1 percent on 2s, 15.4 percent on 3s, and 60 percent on free throws.

"Interest in Lively is mostly driven by his potential to improve a team's defensive identity with rim protection," Bleacher Report writes. "The Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans are all potential suitors in the lottery, a range we no longer expect Lively to slip out of."

The Magic could use a stronger defensive identity. The team finished 18th in defensive rating this past season, and has finished in the bottom half of the league in each of the past three years, all of which have resulted in missing the postseason.

Perhaps Lively could be the key to returning to the playoffs, a realistic goal for the Magic in 2024.

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