2019 NBA Draft: Magic select Chuma Okeke with the 16th pick

The Orlando Magic selected Chuma Okeke with the 16th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, which was held Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Okeke was a star power forward for the Auburn Tigers, who made the Final Four for the first time in school history this past season. He averaged 12.0 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting just under 39% from three-point distance. Okeke suffered a season-ending ACL injury to his left knee in Auburn’s Sweet Sixteen victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Magic were picking outside of the lottery for the first time since they selected Andrew Nicholson with the 19th overall pick in the ’12 draft.

The organization drafted Victor Oladipo (‘13, 2nd), Aaron Gordon (‘14, 4th), Dario Saric (‘14, 12th - traded for the rights to Elfrid Payton), Mario Hezonja (‘15, 5th), Domantas Sabonis (‘16, 11th - traded along with Oladipo and Ersan Ilyasova for the rights to Serge Ibaka), Jonathan Isaac (‘17, 6th), and Mohamed Bamba (‘18, 6th) with their seven lottery picks in the last six years. Of course, only Gordon, Isaac, and Bamba remain with the team.

The organization is excited about the possibility of Okeke blossoming into another piece of Orlando’s young and emerging core group of players.

Teams have found some success with the sixteenth overall pick in past drafts. NBA Hall-of-Fame point guard John Stockton was drafted 16th in 1984. Dana Barros (‘89), Chris Gatling (‘91), Metta World Peace (‘99), and Orlando’s own Nikola Vucevic (‘11) are all former 16th overall picks who have gone on to make an All-Star appearance in their careers. Hedo Turkoglu, Marreese Speights, Nick Young, Jusuf Nurkic, and Terry Rozier are all former 16th overall picks who have also carved out significant roles for themselves in the NBA at one point or another.

Check back with our site as the night continues for more updates, information, and NBA draft content.