The first pick in the 2016 NBA Draft goes to… the Orlando Magic?
There is a very very slim chance this could happen (0.8 percent) to be exact. But Orlando has had some luck and “magic” on its side in past draft lotteries when they won the top pick in 1992, 1993 and 2004.
With those selections, they received franchise cornerstones and big-name players, such as Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber who they traded for Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway on draft night, and Dwight Howard. It has worked out pretty well for the franchise.
Tuesday night is the NBA Draft Lottery to determine the top three picks in the draft among the teams that missed the Playoffs. This represents their first opportunity to turn around those bad fortunes and look forward to hopeful future success.
General manager Rob Hennigan and executive vice president Pat Williams will represent the Magic at the event. Both of them are hoping to hear “Congratulations to the Orlando Magic, you have won the first pick in the NBA draft,” said by NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum.
That would be the best-case scenario. If that were to happen, with the Magic having the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, they would have the option to choose from the two prizes of this year’s draft class and expected top-two picks in freshmen college players Ben Simmons of LSU and Brandon Ingram of Duke.
Simmons, a native of Australia, is a 6-foot-10 forward who has the all-around skills like LeBron James and played his freshman season at LSU. He also previously played at nearby Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida during high school. Since before the college basketball season began, he has been the expected top overall prospect in this year’s draft.
Ingram, from North Carolina, stayed close to home to play for the prestigious Duke Blue Devils under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski. The 6-foot-9 forward has a similar build and playing style of Kevin Durant, with his shooting capabilities and size.
If the Magic were to land one of those highly coveted players, it could change the direction of the franchise and expedite the rebuilding process with this being the fourth year in a row the Magic are a part of the lottery.
With the sudden departure of head coach Scott Skiles last week, the Magic are hoping for some good news tonight.
The odds are long and extremely difficult, 0.8 percent to land the first pick, 0.95 percent to get the second pick, and a 1.5 percent chance of having the third pick. Orlando has a slender 2.9 percent chance to pick in the top three overall.
Difficult, but not impossible.
By having the 11th worst record in the NBA this past season, the Magic have a 90.74 percent chance of getting the 11th overall pick. In all likelihood they will remain where their record says they should.
The NBA Draft lottery is an interesting process to say the least.
There are 14 ping pong balls, that are put into a lottery machine. After they dance around in the machine, a ball shoots up to the top in 10 second intervals. Four numbers are drawn to match a 4-digit combination, with each team having multiple 4-digit combinations, according to NBA.com.
The NBA team that finishes with the worst record, receives the most combinations (250) having a 25 percent chance of getting the first selection. In total, there are 1,001 combinations when drawing four different numbers and 1,000 of these combinations have been divided and assigned to the 14 teams based on the inverse order of their regular season records, according to NBA.com
If the same team is drawn more than once, they will reset the machine and draw again (Minnesota was drawn twice last year, winning the first overall pick) after having the best odds to win the top pick. The 1,001st combination: 11,12,13,14 is not assigned and if that order is drawn, they put the balls back in machine and draw again.
After the top three picks have been chosen, the lottery is over and the draft order is set 4-14 based on team’s regular season finish.
This year, two teams cannot receive the first pick: Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors based on trades involving swapping rights, according to SI.com
There is another scenario the Magic want to happen tonight, other than them getting a top-three pick. They want the Los Angeles Lakers to pick outside the top three, either at fourth or fifth (44.2 percent chance), as a result the Magic will receive a first-round pick from the Lakers in either 2018 (if it is sixth or worst that year) or 2019 (wherever it lands) because of the 2012 Dwight Howard trade, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
On the other hand, if the Lakers do end up picking in the top three, then the Magic will have one more chance to receive a first-round pick from the Lakers. Next year, the Lakers would have to pick fourth or worse in the 2017 NBA draft, so the Magic get the Lakers’ first-round pick in 2019. If that does not happen, then the Magic would settle for the consolation prizes of receiving the Lakers’ second-round picks in 2017 and 2018, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
There are many scenarios, that could play out tonight. May the luck be in favor of the Magic.
Fingers crossed.
