The 2010 NBA Draft is but two weeks away, and teams around the league are trying to figure out whom to pick, except for the Washington Wizards, who will stake their franchise's fortunes on John Wall first overall. Let's take a quick look around the mock drafts to see what the experts think the Orlando Magic might do with the 29th overall pick.
| Player | Ht. | Age | Pos. | From | Comparison (NBADraft.net) |
Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solomon Alabi |
7'01" | 22 | C | Florida State | Boniface N'Dong; Saer Sene |
NBADraft.net |
| Armon Johnson |
6'03" | 21 | PG | Nevada | Antonio Daniels |
ESPN Insider |
| Quincy Pondexter |
6'06" | 22 | SF | Washington | Bobby Simmons |
The Baseline |
| DraftExpress | ||||||
| Jerome Randle |
5'10" | 23 | PG | California | J.J. Barea |
CBSSports.com |
| Samardo Samuels |
6'08" | 21 | PF | Louisville | Ike Diogu; Malik Rose |
OrlandoMagic.com |
| Willie Warren |
6'04" | 20 | PG | Oklahoma | Ben Gordon; Rodney Stuckey |
Ridiculous Upside |
Some observations:
Three of the seven mocks I surveyed had Orlando taking a point guard, yet none mentioned the same one.
The other four were split, with two picking Orlando to take a wing, and the other predicting a big.
What they did agree on is that if Orlando takes a wing, Quincy Pondexter is the likely selection.
I would say the older players with more experience have the edge here, as Orlando is looking to win now, and GM Otis Smith likes mature players who can contribute right away. Courtney Lee, for example, was a four-year starter at Western Kentucky when Smith took him in 2008. Ditto for J.J. Redick, at Duke, in 2006.