The Orlando Magic had two first-round picks in the 2023 NBA Draft and ended up with Arkansas point guard Anthony Black at No. 6 and Michigan wing Jett Howard and No. 11. These two picks filled needs for the team and will make the young roster better. However, the team had a chance to take the best shooter in the draft with their second selection but passed on Kansas sharpshooter Gradey Dick. And that is the biggest Magic draft mistake of 2023.

The Magic came into the 2023 NBA Draft looking to fill two major holes. They needed a playmaking point guard with defensive versatility and shooting, shooting, and more shooting. If the team could come away with those two things, the draft would be a success. And they did. Kind of.

Drafting Jett Howard over Gradey Dick is the biggest Magic draft mistake in the 2023 NBA Draft

Orlando nailed the first issue — a big, playmaking, defensive-minded point guard — by taking Anthony Black, a 6-foot-7 PG who loves to distribute and can legitimately guard four positions. Black fills a major need for the Magic and gives the team the opportunity to play lineups where their forward-sized PG is the smallest player on the floor.

The biggest issue with Black is that he is not a good shooter yet. He shot just 30.1% from 3-point range in college but could become a better shooter in time, as he shot over 70% from the line. If he does, Black will be a superstar, and paired with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, any issues with the team's second pick in the draft will be moot.

However, right now, Black's offensive game doesn’t help the team's shooting woes. The Magic's current roster put up the sixth-worst 3-point percentage in the NBA last season (34.6%). They need to improve that dramatically to get more space for Banchero and Wagner to operate in during the 2023-24 campaign.

Orlando general manager John Hammond knows this, and he had the opportunity to improve the team in that way with the No. 11 selection.

And while the Magic fulfilled most NBA mock drafts by picking Black at No. 6, the team confounded expectations at No. 11, taking Michigan wing Jett Howard over Kansas sharpshooter Gradey Dick, who was the consensus pick at that spot.

Howard is not a bad pick by any means. He is a good shooter, who knocked down threes at a rate of 36.8% in college on 7.3 attempts per game. Howard is also better at attacking the rim than Dick, who is an inch or so shorter. Plus, he is the son of NBA star and former Magic player Juwan Howard. So, Jett knows what it takes to make it in the pros.

Still, the Magic draft mistake of not taking Dick at No. 11 remains.

Jett Howard is an excellent shooter. Gradey Dick is a special shooter. The former Jayhawk and Kansas native made 40.3% of his shots from downtown and was 85.5% from the line. He was the best shooter in the NBA draft, no question. And when a team has the chance to take a player who is elite at a single skill that is highly prized by NBA franchises, they have to take it. Not doing so can lead to the long-term consequences of losing games while coaches and executives lose their jobs.

And while Dick might not be as good off the bounce as Howard, he can create shots for both himself and others more than most pure spot-up shooters. And like Howard, Dick has his defensive liabilities as well. That said, Dick seems to give more effort and has more basketball IQ on that side of the floor.

In the end, the Magic’s draft mistake was the Toronto Raptors' gain. The team from The North scooped up the Kansas sniper two picks after Orlando passed on him.

Now, the Magic (and their fans) will have to wait and hope. They will wait to see how both players develop in the NBA. If Howard becomes an elite shooter and scorer, then it was a pick well made, and the team knew what it was doing.

And they better hope that no matter how Howard turns out, Dick doesn’t become even better.

If he does, the Magic will see him in the Eastern Conference for a very long time, and that will be an issue. Everything at the 2023 NBA Draft set up perfectly for Orlando to add the best shooter in the class, and they passed.

It’s this type of Magic draft mistake that could come back to haunt them for years.