After the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery, we now know the Orlando Magic will have the Nos. 6 and 11 picks in the first round. The team finished with the sixth-worst record in the NBA last season, and that’s where they stayed in the lottery. With that first pick, the Magic have the chance to get a real difference-maker at a position of need, which is why Arkansas freshman Anthony Black is a perfect fit for Orlando with the No. 6 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
3. Anthony Black increases the switch-ability on defense
Arkansas freshman point guard Anthony Black is a unique prospect. He is a true point guard despite being built like a wing at 6-foot-7 and almost 200 pounds. This is rare length at the position, which fits in perfectly with Orlando.
The Magic are building something special with Franz Wagner and 2022-23 NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero. And these two are similar in size and skill to Black. Wagner is a 6-foot-9 guard built like a forward, and Banchero is a 6-foot-10 forward built like a center.
If nothing else, drafting Black to play the point would give the Magic incredible flexibility on the defensive side of the ball and allow the team to switch on screen and rolls like few other teams in the NBA can.
If Chuma Okeke can stay healthy enough to be the 3-and-D role player the team hoped for when they drafted him, the Magic can put out a lineup of Black (6-foot-7), Okeke (6-foot-6), Wagner (6-foot-9), Banchero (6-foot-10), and Wendell Carter Jr. (6-foot-10) who can guard 1 through 5 while switching everything.
That’s something that would set the Magic apart from most of the league and help them improve on their not-so-great 34 wins in the 2022-23 NBA season.
2. The Magic don’t need scoring
The biggest knock on Anthony Black coming out of Arkansas is that he is not yet an NBA-caliber scorer. He averaged 12.8 points as a freshman and shot 30.1% from 3-point range and 70.5% from the line.
All this means that he will probably never be an elite scorer, even with his elite size. Black should get better with time going to the basket by overpowering smaller guards. He could develop a post-up game to increase his scoring, and maybe the shooting improves.
However, another reason that Black is such a good fit with the Magic is that the team doesn’t necessarily need a high-end bucket-getter in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr., Markelle Fultz, and Cole Anthony all averaged double-digit points last season, and Gary Harris and Jalen Suggs are good scorers coming off the bench.
Most teams picking in the top 10 are in dire need of scorers. The Magic have scorers, so Black won’t be under pressure to start dropping 20 as a rookie. That will help him develop as a scorer at his own pace, and more importantly, it will allow him to focus on what he does best, and that will help the Magic offense more than anything else.
1. They do need facilitation
Orlando has two franchise players excellent scorers in Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero. What they need more than anything to get the best out of those players is a facilitating point guard who can get those two more open shots in the half-court game and in transition.
That’s where Anthony Black will excel as an NBA point guard.
Black creates for teammates better than he does anything else. He is great at beating his man off the dribble, drawing a defender, and dishing off to the open man. The former Razorback is also built for playing NBA-style pick-and-roll basketball.
The point guard is such a good pick-and-roll player because of his physical skills and his decision-making. He seems to know exactly when to go to the cup himself, dish to the corner, or hit the pocket pass to the cutting big.
When Black gets involved in this kind of offense with Wagner and Banchero, the results could become borderline unstoppable.
Most NBA teams could use more playmaking, but because of Wagner and Banchero’s skill sets and the scoring guards they’ve been playing with before this NBA Draft, Black could supercharge the Orlando offense quicker than he could with other teams who select in the top seven picks.
So, when you add all this up — the switching on defense, the luxury of not needing his scoring right away, and his elite playmaking — Anthony Black to the Orland Magic with pick No. 6 in the 2023 NBA Draft is a match made in heaven.
Follow Us
Subscribe