NBA Mock Draft: Orlando Magic make two surprise selections

8. Orlando Magic – Jalen Johnson, F, Duke University

The second of two top 10 picks for the Magic, courtesy of the Nikola Vucevic trade with the Chicago Bulls.

Some might be inclined to take either Scottie Barnes or Jonathan Kuminga here, but the Magic already have a sufficient quota of guys who cannot score a basketball on their roster.

General managers are going to question Johnson’s commitment after leaving both IMG Academy and Duke early, but Johnson has special tools.

Johnson’s size, speed and athleticism make him worth a gamble for a franchise desperate for star players.

On the basketball court, it was an up-and-down season in the limited time that Johnson was a member of Mike Krzyzewski’s squad.

According to ShotQuality, Johnson’s points per possessions rank landed him in the 52nd percentile, which is slightly above-average. Additionally, Johnson had a 28 percent good possession rate versus a 26 percent bad possession rate while dishing out just 3.3 passing points per game, so the lack of playmaking may make teams skeptical about a guy who already struggles to be effective in the halfcourt.

Johnson did most of his damage on the offensive end around the paint, shooting 64 percent on close 2’s (41-for-64), and while he did not take a lot of them, Johnson did shoot 44 percent (8-for-18) from 3-point range.

Johnson’s shooting from every other part of the floor did not bode much for confidence. Twenty-nine percent on long-range 2’s (8-for-27) and a pretty abysmal 63 percent from the free-throw line (24-for-38). Again though, his sample size at Duke is pretty narrow, so it is hard to tell how accurate these numbers translate to an 82-game season.

Again, what intrigues scouts about Johnson is not necessarily his halfcourt offensive skill but his ability to handle a basketball and push the offense down the floor in transition.

I think it’s a toss-up between Kuminga, Barnes and Johnson for what order they end up going in the draft. I just personally believe in Johnson’s potential on offense more than Barnes and Kuminga.