ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) – The Orlando Magic hit their lowest point of the Dwight Howard era this past season. After dealing away cornerstone Victor Oladipo for premier rim protector Serge Ibaka in an effort to rise to playoff contention, the move backfired, and we saw Ibaka dealt by the deadline and ex-General Manager Rob Hennigan fired after finishing with the league’s fifth worst record in what was a regressing year for the club.

There are many problems the team has faced in its post-Howard era, many of which will be covered in future articles, but for now, it is a new day with the NBA Draft looming. The new front office of the Magic can right former wrongs and come away with a really good player with the plethora of picks they have. As of now, the Magic will be picking 6th, 25th (from TOR), 33rd (from LAL), and 35th in what is a class deep with talent. Today, we will mainly be talking about the top order of the draft and who the team should target and we will close with some of the back order talent in the draft with the remaining three picks.

Barring any trades from occurring, I believe the top five of the draft will shape out in the following way:

PHI – Markelle Fultz
LAL – Lonzo Ball
BOS – Jayson Tatum
PHO – Josh Jackson
SAC – De’Aaron Fox

Jonathan Isaac (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Jonathan Isaac – PF/C, FSU

New personnel John Hammond and Jeff Weltman love athletic players with length. The duo was behind the drafting of Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2013 draft. If they were to follow that model to a tee, their pick, should he be available, is clearly Jonathan Isaac, but it gets a tad complicated. Don’t get me wrong, Isaac is not the next Giannis, but he has as high upside as anyone in this draft, but there are rumblings that his agent has been playing hardball with teams outside of the top 4, declining workout invitations and refusing to send medical information. That still would not bother me, but given Isaac’s history with asthma, picking him would be unnecessarily risky without knowing the severity of his condition given the other talent available on board. Nonetheless, if the Magic are able to get a hold of his medical records, Isaac has an extremely high floor as an elite defender, and if he ever figures out his offensive game, he could become a great two-way player.

Dennis Smith Jr. (Grant Halverson, Getty Images)

Dennis Smith, Jr. – PG, NC State

I ultimately think this is the player the Magic will rally behind. Dennis Smith Jr. has slipped under the radar due to an ACL injury in high school and a disappointing team season at NC State. Despite his injury, he showed flashes of elite athleticism, and was able to pull of spectacular feats, from high-flying dunks, to rallying his team in an enormous upset against Duke. He has vision, flare, and the “it” factor that I think will serve him well in the league if he is put in the right situation. I would hope Payton and Smith can coexist with each other, because Elfrid Payton turned his game up a notch as the season concluded. In my eyes, Smith has a chance to be a star in this league in the right situation, and that could very well be with the Magic.

Malik Monk Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Malik Monk – SG, Kentucky

In the age-old NBA debate of best player available versus fit, the answer, especially with a lottery pick for a team that has not eclipsed 35 wins in the past five years, should be best player available. I think this is one of the few times where I think the talent among prospects is so close, that I think drafting Monk because of fit would be a smart play. He is one of the best shooters to come out of college basketball in recent memory, and with how the league has shifted to the three ball, Monk would serve well for a team that finished second to last in three-point shooting. He is a high character individual who makes winning, team plays, and has a very underrated passing element to his game. If he ultimately figures out how to be a quality defender, he has the potential to do some serious things in this league.

Reaches – Lauri Markannen, Zach Collins, Donovan Mitchell, Frank Ntilikina

Hammond and Weltman have not been afraid to make reaches in their past drafts, so I would not put it past them to draft one of the above players. Markannen is one of the greatest 7-foot college shooters I have seen in a while, but he does not do much else, yet, that would justify taking him over some of the other talent available. He has a difficult time matching up with other bigs because of his less than average wingspan, and that might limit his upside greatly. Zach Collins is a high character individual who rose up boards with impressive play during the NCAA tournament. He has potential to be a great center down the road, but considering we have $33 million per year on the books for two of our centers, I don’t think we have the right environment for him to flourish. I would not mind trading back into the lottery with our other picks to get him though. Another person I would not mind trading into the lottery for is Donovan Mitchell, a lengthy guard who is being slept on. He has the measurables and drive to become a great player, but I think he is a tier below, talent wise, compared to the other players who will be on board. His decision making is a work in progress, but he has the work ethic to be someone in this league. Finally Frank Ntilikina, is a French point guard with a 7-foot wingspan. His athleticism might not be great, but he has the potential to be a lockdown defender and a player with a lot of fundamentals. His game should age well as he becomes a veteran, but as with the other people on this list, is a tier below the talent we will be choosing from.

Dream Scenario – Picking Josh Jackson and/or acquiring Kristaps Porzingis

There are a lot of rumors floating around with many general managers throwing around smokescreens of who they want and who is expendable on their roster. I feel like the ultimate wildcard in the draft will be when the Celtics and Suns pick. If one of them pick Isaac, there is a very real chance that Josh Jackson will fall to us since the Kings are enamored with De’Aaron Fox and the Celtics and Suns both leaning towards Tatum. News that made shockwaves around the league last night are that Phil Jackson is shopping Kristaps Porzingis, and wants a deal centered around Josh Jackson in return. If Jackson does fall to us, depending on how much the Knicks wants, we should definitely consider trading for Porzingis, whom former GM Rob Hennigan had his eyes set on way before Phil Jackson knew who he was.

What should we do with the remaining picks?

In the lower order of the draft, there are a lot of high-quality players that have the potential to be starters or more. Personally, I think the Magic should hold on to all four picks and use their new G-League affiliate to house those that do not immediately make the roster, but the front office has made it apparent during their media availability that keeping all four is not Plan A because they are hesitant on adding four rookies on an already young roster. Some wings I think the Magic should go after are Josh Hart and Terrance Ferguson, and some bigs I like are Harry Giles (very risky but has the potential to be one of the best players in the draft if he recovers from his injuries), Kyle Kuzma (has court vision rare for a big and is shared with players like Lamar Odom and Ben Simmons), Tony Bradley, Jordan Bell, and Jonah Bolden, to name a few. Hart is my favorite of the bunch. He makes winning plays, and has a championship pedigree. I think Jonah Bolden can be a special player in this league in the right situation, I’m just not sure if we have the right situation for him, since we are already inundated with bigs. Coming back to the best player available versus fit debate, best player available is generally applicable in the first few picks of the lottery, and fit is more applicable to the bottom order closer to the end of the first round and throughout the second round. It is a strategy that John Hammond employed in last year’s draft, finding two diamonds in the rough in a weak draft, one high upside player in the lottery (Thon Maker) and one safe pick in the second round (Malcolm Brogdon). Both played significant minutes for their team and were jettisoned into Rookie of the Year contention.

Despite the front office overhaul, I am confident in Matt Lloyd’s diligent draft work and Weltman and Hammond’s eyes for talent that the Magic will take a step in the right direction for playoff, and hopefully championship, contention in the near future.

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Karthek Ramchanderis a contributing sports reporter for Florida National News. | info@floridanationalnews.com