Magic Involved in Draft Trade Discussions; Big 'Swing' Coming?

The NBA Draft is days away. Will the Orlando Magic make a trade or two with the Nos. 6 & 11 picks?

Jeremy Brener | Jun 19, 2023

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Orlando Magic

ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic currently holds one of the most unique hands in the NBA when all 30 teams come together for Thursday's draft.

With the Nos. 6 & 11 picks, the Magic can get creative by moving up or down and acquiring more assets or the team can opt to take who it feels as the best player at that point in the draft.

"We've had those discussions like, does this allow us to take a swing? What does that mean? You can like create like endless levers if this, then that, literally dozens of them," Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said.

The Magic has reason to make a trade. As the only team with two lottery picks in the draft, Orlando could package those picks to move up, possibly with a team like the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 3 or Houston Rockets at No. 4. The team also has a strong core, all of whom are expected to return next season, and minutes will be hard to come by for one rookie, let alone two lottery-level talents.

Weltman explained how the team always looks towards the players first before it makes any decisions about trades within the draft or outside with veteran players on other teams.

"It's all about getting to know the players, getting to know them as people, how they would fit here," Weltman said.

While trying to see which rookies may fit based on their style of play among other attributes, Weltman also explained how he doesn't look to compromise what the players currently on the roster bring to the table.

The NBA is a people-oriented business at the end of the day, and the Magic will look to bring in whichever person(s) it believes will get the team closer to a title.

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Published Jun 19, 2023

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.