The NBA draft begins Tuesday night, and the Magic don’t hold a first-round pick.
Orlando enters this week’s draft with only the No. 46 pick in the second round, which takes place on Wednesday night. Both rounds begin at 8 p.m. and will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on ESPN.
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If the Magic don’t acquire a first-round pick, it’ll mark the first time since 2011 that the franchise doesn’t pick in the opening round. As of Monday, five other didn’t hold a pick in the first round beyond the Magic: the Rockets, Pacers, Pelicans, Suns and Trail Blazers.
So are the Magic content with staying in the second round?
That was the question posed to team president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman last Thursday after new head coach Sean Sweeney was formally introduced.
“I don’t want to say we’re content ever,” Weltman said inside the AdventHealth Training Center last week. “I don’t want to use that word. We have the 46th pick, and we like our team a lot. So, I don’t know what that’s going to be mean. We’re having a lot of conversations with teams. This is our job: we have to explore opportunities (and) figure out where we can get better.
“I’ve spoken often about the financial compression that we’re facing,” he added. “We are kind of working on margins here in ways to improve the team, but we’re having a lot of discussions at different levels.”
One of the reasons the Magic are expected to pay luxury tax this season is the same reason why they don’t have a first-round pick this week: Last summer’s blockbuster deal to acquire Desmond Bane from the Grizzlies.
As part of the trade, Orlando sent Memphis a first-round draft pick in 2026, which included swap rights from Phoenix. As the result of league tie breakers and a complicated picks swap that included Orlando, Phoenix, Memphis and Charlotte — following an additional trade between the Suns and Hornets in February — the Magic’s first-round pick ultimately ended up with Charlotte at No. 18.
Meanwhile, Bane came to the Magic with four years remaining on his rookie extension he originally signed with Memphis. The extension still has three years and a total of $126.5 million left on it.
The combination of Bane’s contract and rookie extensions given to Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs by the Magic in recent years leaves Orlando in a tight financial situation moving forward.
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Tack on the $18.1 million owed to center Wendell Carter Jr., the $10.1 million for guard Anthony Black, the $7.6 million for backup center Goga Bitadze, the $3.9 million for forward Tristan da Silva and the roughly $5.2 million combined for rookies Jase Richardson ($3.1 million) and Noah Penda ($2.1 million), and the Magic are already facing a total salary that’s just south of $200 million — or right below the league’s projected luxury tax line for the 2026-27 season.
That reality, however, doesn’t impact the pre-draft process for Orlando’s front office.
“We’ve been quite busy, and these days, it’s not really just the draft,” Weltman said. “It is free agency as well. So, we’ve been plotting and ranking and trying to figure out ‘if this, then that,’ scenarios.
“It truly doesn’t change the work at all,” he added.
There’s proof of that work as well.
The Magic, according to sources and reporting done by USA Today’s Rookie Wire, have held pre-draft workouts with several prospects who are projected to be selected in the second round. That list includes Tennessee center Felix Okpara, Duke forward Maliq Brown, Houston guard Emanuel Sharp, Miami guard Tre Donaldson and Virginia guard Dallin Hall, among others.
It’s important to remember that just because a prospect works out with a team doesn’t mean they’ll draft them and vice versa.
And there’s value to be found in the second round as well. Recent second-rounders to stick with Orlando past the draft include Penda (No. 32, 2025), Caleb Houstan (No. 32, 2022) and Melvin Frazier Jr. (No. 35, 2018).
Whichever way the Magic decide to go — trade into the first-round, only select in the second round or trade out of the draft completely — Weltman feels confident about the direction of the organization after hiring Sweeney and entering free agency.
“At the end of the day, we are bullish on this group,” Weltman said. “We like the team. We’re eager to see how they look as coached by Sean.”
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Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected]