Orlando Magic Draft Cole Anthony After Falling Out of Lottery

Last season was a disaster for the North Carolina Tar Heels and their top recruit Cole Anthony. In the first month of the season, Cole Anthony suffered a knee injury which required surgery and kept him out for about a month and a half. As a result, the Tar Heels finished 14-19, their worst record since the 2001-02 college basketball season.

When he was on the court, Cole Anthony had all the makings of a Top 10 draft selection, averaging 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.3 steals and shooting 34.8% from three-point range in 22 games. After slipping out of the lottery, the Magic found themselves with a no-brainer pick selecting Cole Anthony at No. 15 overall. 

With veteran guard D.J. Augustin set to be a free agent and the Magic still trying to figure out what they have in Markelle Fultz, selecting Cole Anthony to be the point guard of the future is a fantastic move. Anthony fits that athletic, fast-tempo guard that Magic likes to have on their roster and with Aaron Gordon, the Magic will be a team that blitzes other teams in transition. Cole Anthony is one of the quickest point guards in this draft class and his acrobatic moves give Magic fans a reason to buy into this team. 

If the Magic wanted to, they could even go with a two guard lineup with Fultz and Anthony in the backcourt and move Evan Fournier to the wing where free agent James Ennis played last season. A lineup of Anthony-Fultz-Fournier-Gordon-Vucevic would be an eye-opening rotation in the Eastern Conference and while they may not be an immediate contender to come out of the East, they would definitely be a team to watch. 

The Magic absolutely needed to address the point guard position this draft and they did so by taking one of the Top 3 point guards in the class. It would come as no surprise that by the end of the 2020-21 season, we will be talking about Cole Anthony being in the running for Rookie of the Year.