NBA: Ranking every team based off draft success over the last 20 years

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NBA Orlando Magic Aaron Gordon (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

8. Orlando Magic: 43.5 points

2000: Mike Miller: 0.5
2002: Drew Gooden: 0.5 (Joe Johnson rule)
2004: Jameer Nelson: 1.5 (1x all-star. 1.5x multiplier for pick outside of lottery)
2004: Dwight Howard: 35 (8x all-star, 5x 1st team, 1x 2nd team, 2x 3rd team)
2005: Marcin Gortat: 0.5
2006: J.J. Redick: 0.5
2009: Courtney Lee: 0.5
2013: Victor Oladipo: 4 (2x all-star, 1x 3rd team)
2014: Aaron Gordon: 0.5

The Orlando Magic are the unluckiest lucky team in the NBA. They’ve definitely had their fair share of good luck, winning the lottery 3 teams from 1992-2004 and coming away with Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway, and Dwight Howard. 3 players who all made multiple first-team All-NBA’s in their career and led them to two NBA Finals appearances in 1995 and 2009.

But it’s been brutal lottery luck for the Magic pretty much every year since Howard left the team. They’ve had a top 6 pick four times since 2014, and all four times their pick was one too late.

In 2014, they picked one spot after Joel Embiid came off the board. In 2015, it was one spot after Kristaps Porzingis. 2017 was one after De’Aaron Fox. And 2018 was one spot after Trae Young. Instead, the Magic ended up with Aaron Gordon, Mario Hezonja, Jonathan Isaac, and Mo Bamba. Excluding Hezonja, all of those guys appear to be turning into solid players, but none change the franchise like any of the players picked one spot in front of them.

Maybe they are due for some lottery luck or maybe they used it all with those three number 1 picks. But if they are ever going to compete for championships again in that market, they’ll need their luck to turn back around.