Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
According to Sports Illustrated, the Orlando Magic are ‘actively’ shopping their number two overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft. At the moment, Ben McLemore out of Kansas seems to be agreed upon as the second player off the board but he plays the same position as Aaron Afflalo – Orlando’s leading scorer last year.
One of the potential trade partners is rumored to be the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are currently sitting at the ninth overall pick need tremendous help at the shooting guard position. A guy like McLemore would fit nicely, but will be gone by then. However, here’s the kicker – Minnesota is said to have their eyes on Victor Oladipo out of Indiana instead.
Many would ask, if they Wolves were to make this happen, why would they pass on McLemore in favor of Oladipo? Well, they might see a few things that we don’t. If Oladipo fits better in the eyes of Flip Saunders, then so be it. After all, the Wolves would certainly welcome either prospect as they could not be any worse than Luke Ridnour was last year.
At the moment, the Wolves may have some competition. The Magic are said to have many potential suitors interested in trading for the pick. The fact that Orlando is highly considering making a move such as this certainly warrants the assumption that this year’s draft is much weaker than many of the recent ones we’ve seen.
Something else to also back up that assumption – the Cleveland Cavaliers are said to be shopping their number one overall pick as well. Whatever winds up shaking out with these teams, specifically Minnesota, would likely work out in the best interest of all parties involved. The Wolves definitely could use a two guard and Orlando would love to get some value back for the pick as they already have that position locked down.
The countdown is on and the draft is less than three weeks away. It seems we will know soon whether or not the Wolves can expect to bring in a much bigger name than anticipated.
Ryan Heckman is a Senior NBA writer for www.RantSports.com also contributing to the NFL. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
