NBA Mock Draft: Spurs land Victor Wembanyama; Blazers jump into top 3

11. Orlando Magic (via Chicago Bulls) – Nick Smith Jr., G, Arkansas

This second lottery pick for the Orlando Magic will largely depend on what the team elects to do with their first pick in the top 10. However, I believe that there’s a strong argument to be made that the Magic should take a flier on a talent such as Nick Smith Jr. As one of the most highly-touted prospects coming out of High School, to say that Smith had an underwhelming freshman season at Arkansas would be a vast understatement.

Nevertheless, if a team is willing to still believe that they can get the most out of him at the NBA level, there’s reason to believe that Smith could end up being one of the steals in the draft. Let’s look at it this way; if he has even just a “good” freshman season at Arkansas, you can make the argument that he’s probably taken in the top 5, or even higher.

Smith has a dynamic scoring mentality and didn’t even scratch the surface of his potential during his time in college. The raw and natural talent still has to be there. It was disappointing that he didn’t live up to that in college, but that doesn’t mean he’s automatically going to be a bad prop. Maybe Orlando rolls the dice on Smith outside the top 10.