ESPN: Magic Choosing Between Two Prospects at No. 1

It's now a two-horse race.

Jeremy Brener | May 18, 2022

ESPN: Magic Choosing Between Two Prospects at No. 1 /

When the Orlando Magic snatched the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft Tuesday evening, it was understood that it would get their top choice out of three big prospects: Duke's Paolo Banchero, Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren and Auburn's Jabari Smith.

Chet Holmgren

However, ESPN is reporting that the league has narrowed its consensus on the top picks and that the Magic will likely choose between just two of those three prospects: Holmgren and Smith.

"This is the draft lottery of the power forwards with three very different players," Adrian Wojnarowski said on the Woj Pod. "We’ll see how this shakes out. Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga and Jabari Smith of Auburn, I think the consensus right now is those are really the two players competing for No. 1 with the Magic."

Both players appear to give the Magic a ton of potential moving forward.

Holmgren can play the four or five and could complement Wendell Carter Jr. well as a high-low combo. He also has a very strong defensive IQ that could make him one of the league's best defenders once he puts on a little more weight. He also has proven success with last year's top pick Jalen Suggs, his former high school teammate.

Smith is more NBA-ready than Holmgren and can be the exact 3-and-D player that every team in the league wants. In his lone season at Auburn, Smith averaged 16.9 points per game while shooting 42 percent from the perimeter.

Jabari Smith

USATSI_18010148 — Robert Deutsch/USA Today Sports

Paolo Banchero

Both Holmgren and Smith can succeed with the Magic, but neither are locks to be the No. 1 pick. This means the Magic have a very interesting month of back-and-forth ahead.

Published May 18, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.