Orlando Magic Continue to be Intrigued by Marcus Smart

Mar 21, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Marcus Smart (33) shoots between Gonzaga Bulldogs center Przemek Karnowski (24) and guard David Stockton (11) in the first half of a men

The Orlando Magic continues to be intrigued by Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart.

The Magic will have the fourth and twelfth overall picks in the draft and Orlando are very interested in drafting Smart at number four.

The team have already brought him in for two visits, remaining the only player to visit Orlando twice before next week’s draft.

Furthermore, when the Magic had the second overall pick last year, they were reportedly willing to select Smart had he opted to enter the draft. Instead, he stayed in school for another year and the Magic selected Victor Oladipo.

Now, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, the Magic love Smart’s intangibles, enough so that they are considering drafting him.

“Orlando Magic executives love Smart’s intangibles. They value his leadership, toughness and competitiveness so much that they might select him fourth overall.”

Orlando has had eyes on Smart the last two seasons. This past season Smart averaged 18 points per game while grabbing six boards and dishing out about five assists a contest while appearing in 31 games. He averaged 2.6 turnovers a game though.

However, he was suspended three games for an incident in a game against Texas Tech, where he pushed a fan after being verbally abused.

On the court, Smart would be astonishing to watch as his game is crazy and out of control, yet also impressive.

If Orlando drafted Smart, he and Oladipo would make for an exciting back court for many years to come. They would be quick on defense and explosive on offense, but hitting shots could become a problem, especially behind the three-point line. Smart hit 41 per cent of his shots the last two seasons, while Oladipo hit the same number in his rookie NBA season. In college, Smart was a 29 per cent three-point shooter, while Oladipo connected 32 per cent of the time in the association.

The Magic have been rumoured to have interest in point guard Dante Exum too. However, if the Magic draft a point guard, it leaves a decision to be made regarding Jameer Nelson and his future with the only franchise he’s known.

The draft takes place on June 26.