Fanpost: Reviewing 10 Years Of Magic Draft Picks

Every now and then, we will highlight and promote some of the more creative FanPosts from the site. The following post was originally made by ajdenholm on January 5th.

It’s only January but I thought it could be cool to recap who the Magic have selected from the first round over the last ten years.

Here is the list and a brief summary of all Orlando Magic first-round draft picks, as well as a few career highlights.

2010 - Daniel Orton

Daniel Orton was picked by the Orlando Magic with the 29th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. In December 2010, Orton was sent to the New Mexico Thunderbirds of the NBA Development League where, in only his second game, suffered an injury to rule him out for the rest of the season,

He eventually made his debut for the Magic in January 2012, only to be signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder 6 months later.

2012 - Andrew Nicholson

Andrew Nicholson was selected by the Orlando Magic with the 19th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. In his rookie season, he was selected to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend in place of the injured Andre Drummond.

In the following season, Nicholson scored double figures in 11 of the first 23 games of the season but couldn’t keep it going, finding game time limited for the next 2 years,

In July 2016, Nicholson signed with the Washington Wizards.

2013 - Victor Oladipo

Victor Oladipo was selected 2nd overall in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. In the December of that year, Oladipo recorded his first triple-double with 266 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a double-overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. He was also selected to participate in both the Rising Stars Challenge and the Taco Bell Skills Challenge during All-Star Weekend.

In the following season, Oladipo competed in the Slam Dunk Contest, finishing second behind Zac LaVine. In that same season, Oladipo scored a then career-high 38 points on 15-of-25 shooting in a match against the Phoenix Suns.

The 2015-16 season saw Oladipo explode in terms of scoring. In March 2016 he scored a career-high 45 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers, becoming the ninth player in franchise history score 40 and the first Magic player to do so since Arron Afflalo in December 2013.

However, Oladipo was then traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the summer of 2016.

2014 - Aaron Gordon

Aaron Gordon was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. After appearing in the first 11 games of the 2014–15 season, Gordon was ruled out indefinitely on November 16 after he fractured a bone in his left foot in the Magic’s loss to the Washington Wizards the night before. He then recorded his first double-double in April with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

During the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend, Gordon was the runner-up to Zach LaVine in the Slam Dunk Contest, a match-up that drew comparisons to the Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins battle. Not even the best professional sports handicapping businesses could have predicted the winner as both competitors produced dunks that would last in the memory. The judges couldn’t separate them until the 4th round of dunks. A year later, he participated in the Dunk Contest a year later but failed to make it past the first round.

In the 2017-18 season, Gordon scored a career-high 41 points in a win over the Brooklyn Nets. He hit the 40 point mark again next month, along with 15 rebounds, in a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. An injury in February 2018 caused Gordon to miss the Slam Dunk Contest for a third year.

2014 - Dario Šarić

The Orlando Magic selected Dario Šarić 12th overall in the 2014 draft, but his rights were traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Elfrid Payton on draft night.

2015 - Mario Hezonja

Mario Hezonja was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Orlando Magic in the 2015 NBA draft. In February 2016, he made his first career NBA start and dunked four seconds into the game. He ended up playing 79 out of 82 games that season.

In the following season, Hezonja saw minutes on the court limited due to a change in coaching staff. Poor performances, at first in defense and later offense, convinced the Magic not to pick up a fourth-year option on his contract. In July 2018, Hezonja signed with the New York Knicks,

2016 - Domantas Sabonis

Domantas Sabonis was selected 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2016 NBA draft but was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder along with Ersan İlyasova and Victor Oladipo for Serge Ibaka on draft night.

2017 - Jonathon Isaac

Jonathon Isaac was selected with the 6th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. He picked up an injury on December and was later assigned to the Lakeland Magic of the NBA G League for rehabilitation purposes.

After spending most of his rookie year injured, Isaac has rebounded to turn in a mostly-healthy 2018 campaign so far, although his averages of 7.9 points and 4.7 rebounds a game leave a bit to be desired.

2017 - Anžejs Pasečņiks

Anžejs Pasečņiks was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft but was immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for future first-round and second-round picks.

2018 - Mohamed Bamba

Mohamed Bamba was selected with the sixth overall pick by the Orlando Magic in the 2018 NBA draft. The jury is still very much out on him, as he was drafted for potential and not immediate return. Combine that with a resurgent Nikola Vucevic on a surprisingly competitive Magic team, and it may be well into next season before Bamba makes a serious impact.