day is always filled with high expectations, hope for a better future and inevitable risks.
Unfortunately for the Orlando Magic, they took a risk that was avoidable and unreasonable.
Selecting Fran Vazquez from Spain with their 11th pick, the Magic failed to find an immediate answer to their needs to help them become a playoff-ready team.
Unlike other athletes who have already proven their abilities at the collegiate level, Vazquez will take time to be prepared for the NBA.
He is like so many other European athletes selected with a lottery pick as their teams hope to mold them into NBA-level players.
Passing on players already prepared for the NBA like Sean May, Rashad McCants, Danny Granger, Gerald Green, and Hakim Warrick, the Magic chose a player they may not even see in their own uniform for another two years.
Much like the situation the Jazz faced when drafting Raul Lopez from Spain, Vazquez is currently under contract for another two seasons with Europe’s Unicaja Malago.
Although the Magic are expected to buy out his contract, it may take a while to go through the paperwork, and it could be some time before he is working alongside Dwight Howard in team workouts.
Vazquez will bring several strengths from his experience in Spain. Like several European athletes, he is tall, athletic, quick and has good coordination for his size. He is a good team player, and his long arms and shot-blocking ability help his defense.
Those strengths were enough for him to be picked in the first-round, but his weaknesses will cause him to be the biggest bust of the 2005 NBA draft.
His 6-foot-10-inch, 230-pound frame will not be enough for the NBA. Imagine when he tries to post up Shaq’s 7-foot-1-inch, 325-pound body when the Magic face the Heat.
Although a strong team player, Vazquez is also known for his weak one-on-one defensive ability, when his positioning often places him in situations in which his opponent can easily outwit and bypass him.
There is also the question of where he will play. Will he be a center or a power forward?
The Magic’s roster already includes several players in those roles, such as Dwight Howard, Kelvin Cato, Tony Battie and Pat Garrity.
Another question that should have risen in the Magic’s war room when they decided on Vazquez is the history of other European athletes selected with recent lottery picks.
Other than Pau Gasol, there has not been a high-level European athlete who has made a direct impact on his team (not including China’s Yao Ming) picked in the top 14 lottery picks since 2001.
Andris Biedrius (No. 11, 2004), Darko Milicic (No. 2, 2003), Mickael Pietrus (No. 11, 2003), Nikoloz Tskitishvili (No. 5, 2002), and Vladimir Radmonovic (No. 12, 2001) are all examples of what Orlando can expect from Fran Vazquez.
His poor English will slow his progress in understanding what he is being coached to do and how to be involved in the offensive and defensive schemes that will likely seem very different to what he is accustomed to using in Europe.
I’m sure several Magic fans were in pain when they saw their team select Fran Vazquez with the 11th pick on Tuesday.
The execs for the Magic better hope that May, McCants, Granger, Green, Warrick and pretty much every other first-round pick after Vazquez fail to pan out, or else they will have a lot of explaining to do in order to keep their fans.
Like so many other teams that have tried to fix their problems with “exciting” European athletes while passing up athletes such as Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire, the Magic will join a list of teams that regret their blunders and look forward to next season, in which they won’t risk a top pick on an unproven European athlete.
