{"id":5343,"date":"2026-06-25T17:05:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5343"},"modified":"2026-06-25T17:05:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:05:33","slug":"magic-trade-to-draft-izaiyah-nelson-but-where-does-he-fit-in-orlandos-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5343","title":{"rendered":"Magic trade to draft Izaiyah Nelson, but where does he fit in Orlando\u2019s future?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shortly after Izaiyah Nelson learned Wednesday night he had been selected by the Magic in the second round of the NBA draft, the University of South Florida senior couldn\u2019t contain his excitement.<\/p>\n

Read more Detroit Lions player Terrion Arnold in Florida jail, accused of directing violent confrontation<\/a><\/p>\n

On a phone call with team officials, including president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman, Nelson said he planned on driving from Tampa to Orlando on Thursday morning with the intention of beating them into the building for workouts at the AdventHealth Training Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just about the work,\u201d Weltman said about the No. 51 pick in a phone interview following the draft. \u201cHe\u2019s a breath of fresh air in that most of the time when you\u2019re looking through the draft lens, you\u2019re looking at younger guys who are really going to need to develop personal routines and habits.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Izaiyah comes in really mature, understanding that it\u2019s going to take a lot of work for him to get to where he wants to get, understanding that winning comes before all else,\u201d Weltman added. \u201cI think he\u2019s got a lot of that stuff that he brings with him that you don\u2019t have to kind of wait on and develop and hope that he finds it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orlando entered the second round only with the No. 46 pick, but later completed a three-team trade with Washington and Milwaukee that netted the Magic both Nelson at No. 51 from the Wizards and cash considerations from the Bucks.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, Washington acquired the draft rights to University of Tennessee forward Felix Okpara (No. 46), while Milwaukee acquired the draft rights to Malique Lewis (No. 60), who played for the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the Australian National Basketball League.<\/p>\n

Nelson stood out to Orlando because of his ability to impact the game on both ends of the court. The 6-foot-9 forward, who turns 23 on Oct. 1, became the first player in American Athletic Conference history to be named the league\u2019s player of the year, defensive player of the year and newcomer of the year when he transferred to USF after three years at Arkansas State.<\/p>\n

The Marietta, Ga. native, who helped the Bulls earn their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2012, recorded the ninth-most double-doubles in the country (18) and ranked 18th nationally in rebounding (9.6 rebounds per game) this past season.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But where does Nelson fit into Orlando\u2019s plans moving forward under new head coach Sean Sweeney? That remains unclear.<\/p>\n

While he\u2019s proven to impact the game in more ways than one, he doesn\u2019t help the Magic in a dire area of need: 3-point shooting. As a senior at USF, he shot 14.3% from distance on 1.4 long-range attempts per game.<\/p>\n

Still, he led the AAC in field-goal percentage (56.1%), while averaging 15.9 points per contest. Nelson also boasts a massive 7-foot-2 wingspan and has been heralded for playing with a relentless motor by chasing after loose balls, crashing the glass and outworking opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s too soon to talk about stuff like that,\u201d Weltman said about Nelson\u2019s fit on the Magic. \u201cObviously, we\u2019ve got a roster full of talented players and we have to figure out how that\u2019s all going to work with Sean. There\u2019s a long way to go before we kind of get to the end of summer and understand what our team looks like.<\/p>\n

Read more 74-year-old man facing execution would be oldest put to death in modern Florida history<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cBut most importantly (Wednesday night), it\u2019s about just bringing in talent, character, toughness and integrity, and we\u2019ll figure the rest out as we go,\u201d Weltman added.<\/p>\n

As a late second-round pick, it also wasn\u2019t immediately clear which type of contract Nelson will sign with the franchise.<\/p>\n

The Magic enter the summer with three standard contract roster spots open and two of three two-way contracts available, but not much room financially to add to the roster through free agency compared to the past. That\u2019s because Orlando has signed key young players, such as Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, to large rookie extensions in recent years.<\/p>\n

Two-way players go between the NBA and the G League, but they\u2019re limited to being active for just 50 NBA games and can\u2019t play in the playoffs. Nelson wouldn\u2019t face those restrictions if he signed a standard contract.<\/p>\n

Orlando signed last year\u2019s second-round pick Noah Penda to a standard contract, but he was picked 19 spots higher (No. 32) than Nelson was Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese days you want to leave yourself as flexible as possible and obviously different commitments have different financial implications. So as we piece together the roster, we\u2019ll make sense of all of that,\u201d Weltman said when asked by the Orlando Sentinel if Nelson would sign a standard contract or a two-way deal. \u201cIt all kind of fits together.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the most important thing for us is we just want to get him in the gym soon, get him working with our guys and getting to know our organization,\u201d Weltman added.<\/p>\n

Nelson will hit the court soon for Las Vegas Summer League, which runs July 9-19 out west. The second-round pick will be joined by last year\u2019s pair of Magic draft picks, Jase Richardson and the French forward Penda, Weltman confirmed.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what the future holds for Nelson, it\u2019s clear why the Magic made a move to draft him Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy is a worker,\u201d Weltman said. \u201cHe\u2019s tough. He\u2019s a hit-first guy. He\u2019s about self-improvement. He\u2019s about winning above everything else. (A) monster competitor, monster athlete.<\/p>\n

Read more Bianchi: Enough already! Giannis deal again leaves Magic stuck in the shadow of the hated Heat<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cJust the kind of guy you want to bring into an organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said it was “too soon” to discuss where rookie Izaiyah Nelson fits for Orlando.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-orlando-magic","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nMagic trade to draft Izaiyah Nelson, but where does he fit in Orlando\u2019s future? - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5343\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Magic trade to draft Izaiyah Nelson, but where does he fit in Orlando\u2019s future? 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