Magic GM John Hammond Talks Draft, No. 6 Pick

The Magic have overhauled their front office in recent weeks, hiring former Raptors executive Jeff Weltman as their new president of basketball operations and ex-Bucks exec John Hammond as their new general manager.

Both Weltman and Hammond had been preparing for the 2017 draft with their old teams before joining the Bucks, so they’re very familiar with this year’s draft class, but they may be taking a different approach now that they’re working with a new roster, a new management group, and an extra first-round pick.

Speaking to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel, Hammond answered a number of questions about this year’s draft, the Magic’s options with their two first-round picks, and his philosophy to drafting. The whole Q&A is worth checking out, but here are a few of the notable answers from Orlando’s new GM:

On the Magic’s approach with the No. 6 overall pick:

“I think that our mindset today is fairly clear and definitive. We are going to be looking to draft the best player on the board with the sixth pick. … When you get this high into the draft, I think very few teams are thinking, ‘We’re going to fill a need.’ The standard thought process going into something like this is to always look for the best player on the board.

“We don’t feel like there is a gap [between the fifth and sixth players on the board]. And we feel confident with the sixth pick.”

On the strength of this year’s draft class:

“I think as we’re looking at it today, there may not be that transcendent player. There may not be that Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James or Patrick Ewing type of player that when you draft that player, you know that player has that ability to turn your team into basically a championship-caliber team in a matter of a years.

But I think that there are players in this draft, especially in the top of this draft, that have a chance to be All-Stars in this league and maybe multiple-time All-Stars in this league. And if you’re drafting a player like that, he could be a building-block piece to your team.”

On whether Hammond’s focus on length and athleticism in Milwaukee will carry over to the Magic:

“Jeff’s philosophy, and my philosophy in the past, has been that. We love length. We love athleticism. But a critical part of the game today is: Can a player stretch the floor and shoot the three-point shot? So if you can get a combination of something like that — a player who can play multiple positions, a player who has length, a player who has some athleticism, a player that can eventually step on the floor and stretch the floor — in this day and age in this league, those are potential All-Star players.”

On whether the Magic will target a draft-and-stash player with their second first-round pick (No. 25):

“Potentially we could. But we also have that ability with the 33rd and 35th picks. I think we’ll keep all those options open.”

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