ORLANDO – In recent years, the NBA’s rich have been able to get richer by culling diamonds in the rough such as Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Donovan Mitchell, Paschal Siakam and Clint Capela from the middle of the first round of the NBA Draft.
On Thursday night, an Orlando Magic franchise still riding high about being in the playoffs and picking outside of the lottery for the first time in seven years hope they found a future in star in Auburn forward Chuma Okeke, who will likely miss most of his first NBA season because of a serious knee injury suffered in the spring’s NCAA Tournament.