In Round I, Orlando Magic fans reviewed the scenarios most likely to play out for the Magic’s 6th overall pick; in Round II, lets run through scenarios where highly-touted prospects slip in the draft and the paradox of choice may overwhelm the new Magic front office.

President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman breaks down every draft choice possibility.

The projected top five picks in this year’s NBA Draft are as follows:

1.) Markelle Fultz

2.) Lonzo Ball

3.) Josh Jackson

4.) Jayson Tatum

5.) De’Aaron Fox



Out of these five prospects, all of whom are most likely drafted ahead of Dennis Smith Jr., Jonathan Isaac, and Malik Monk, it isn’t a definite that anyone is better than the other as an overall prospect, or even a better fit, for the Magic to select. The chances of Fultz slipping past 1, let alone all the way down to 6, are slim to none; though not as much of a lock as Kevin Durant or Blake Griffin out of college, Fultz embodies the ideal scoring guard position in today’s NBA with his ball skills, outside range, and ability to switch between the 1 and the 2. As for the rest of every expert’s big board, however, no one is safe.

Lavar Ball has either “talked his son” into the purple and gold as the 2nd overall pick or off the first five teams’ draft board completely due to his disruptive behavior. All five squads could skip over Lonzo because of his father’s unwanted media attention, or for a more realistic reason, due to Lonzo simply sharing the same potential upside as his counterparts. Has Lonzo proven an ability to consistently make the right play and exude exemplary court-vision throughout entire games? Yes, as Ball revealed while playing at UCLA, with a strong supporting cast to help execute Lonzo’s playmaking, I might add. Is Lonzo Ball more likely to become a top fifteen player in the league over anyone else available at one point in his career? Not necessarily, as Lonzo’s pass-first mindset could lead him down Ricky Rubio’s Route of empty, flashy passes, or worse, down Rajon Rondo assist-grabby Road, before even sniffing Jason-Kidd’s pure-playmaker path to Springfield.



Josh Jackson is noted as the biggest lock to plug into a rotation for meaningful 3-and-D minutes right away for a team, while the same can be said for Jayson Tatum and his ISO-scoring capability on the offensive end from the 3/4 position. De’Aaron Fox has been rumored to go as high as 2nd overall by the Lakers, which would set the big baller brand control room off to self-destruct, but Fox could also slip due to his noted lack of outside-shooting ability. All players have weaknesses to their game, well, besides the guy who spells his name with a capital B three letters into the name; every player is otherworldly at one or more specific basketball skills, otherwise they wouldn’t have made it this far into the process. It’s up to every front office to decide if each set of weaknesses is outweighed by the strengths of skill-set unique to each player.