Mike Bianchi: Magic should trade one of their lottery picks in Thursday’s NBA draft

ORLANDO, Fla. — The mega-million-dollar question heading into Thursday’s NBA draft seems to be what should the Orlando Magic do with their two lottery picks — No. 6 overall and No. 11 overall?

Should they use them both?

Package them and try to move up into the top 3?

Trade down and obtain draft capital for the future while still being able to get a decent contributor (hopefully) in this year’s draft?

Or should they use one of the lottery picks and then trade the other for a future first-round pick?

Or, much less likely, maybe they should put together a package of draft picks and players and try to make a major splash by acquiring a marquee star such as Damian Lillard or Zion Williamson, both of whom could be on the trade block?

As much as I would love to see Lillard in a Magic uniform, I don’t think Lillard would love to see Lillard in a Magic uniform — at least not at this juncture. Lillard wants to compete for a championship right now, and the Magic aren’t close to being a championship contender. As for Williamson, the Magic certainly don’t need another perpetually injured player on their roster.

The beauty is that the Magic have tons of options and assets. If I were Jeff Weltman, the Magic’s president of basketball operations, I would use one of the lottery picks to try to find another young star in the mold of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner and then I would trade the other for a future No. 1 pick.

Let’s face it, the Magic are already the third-youngest team in the NBA and don’t really need two more young, developing players added to a roster already filled with young, developing players. If you have too many young, developing players, how do you develop them when they’re not getting extensive court time?

Mr. Weltman, if you’re listening, take notes:

Use the No. 6 pick, then trade the No. 11 pick for future draft capital to help make a major deal for an established star when the time is right.

Now is not the time to bring in an established star, but soon it will be.

Hopefully, very soon.