The Magic are abysmal again.
Cellar dwellers for the sixth straight year.
Losers in 19 of their last 24 games.
They could have at least had a new star player to cheer about...
If the new Orlando Magic front office didn't screw it up.
Welcome to the Orlando Sports Weekly Rundown, I'm David Baumann
Passing on Kyle Kuzma with the 25th pick in this year's draft was a MAJOR whiff by the first-year Magic front office.
And Jeff Weltman and John Hammond need to be held to the fire on this one.
Weltman told the Sentinel on draft night, "We felt that at a certain point the draft flattened out."
He went on to say he "didn't want to bring four rookies in" to this year's roster, so he traded the 25th pick for a comparable future 1st-round pick.
The Sentinel's Josh Robbins said, "That move... left Magic fans scratching their heads."
And Orlando Pinstripe Post's Cory Hutson said, "Orlando's return for the 25th pick was confusing, confounding, and perhaps troubling."
Yes, it's very troubling.
Because the Los Angeles Lakers promptly picked Kyle Kuzma with the 27th pick.
And he's quickly turning out to be a star.
While the Magic were halfheartedly losing their sixth straight game on Wednesday night -- this time to the lowly Chicago Bulls (for a second time this year already) -- Kuzma was busy cranking out a near-perfect 38-point night, leading the Lakers to an upset win over the team the best record in the West, the Houston Rockets.
Have a look below at Kuzma's ridiculous highlights...
Orlando Sports Weekly Rundown: Orlando Magic On Losing Streak....Again
Imagine cheering for a new player like that on the Magic!
There's no question that Kuzma is flat-out better than Magic rookie Jonathan Isaac right now, who was taken 6th overall (21 spots ahead of Kuzma!)... but Kuzma might also be better than every single player on the Magic roster.
Only 4th-year NBA vet Aaron Gordon could compete with him for that designation.
Despite being just a rookie, Kuzma is actually a couple months OLDER than Gordon (July vs September birthdays in 1995).
Here are Gordon and Kozma's 2017 stats side-by-side, courtesy herosports.com:
Those stats are VERY close.
Tough to debate who's got more upside than the other!
And who knows how long Gordon remains in a Magic jersey!
Kuzma could have been the perfect replacement for Gordon if "AG" gets traded by the February deadline, or departs this offseason as a restricted free agent.
To sum it all up...
When you stink as bad the Magic, you CAN'T AFFORD TO BLOW IT by missing on a player like Kuzma.
Especially when he falls into your lap way down deep into the draft.
The Magic blew it.
And they're paying for this mistake as we speak.
The season has derailed and nobody is coming to the rescue.
Could've been Kuzma.
Should've been Kuzma.
No excuses.
David Baumann is a Sports Columnist for 407area.com and can be heard Tuesdays from 7-9pm on EK Sports, 96.9 The Game. He can be seen Thursdays Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30pm on Spectrum Sports 360's Face Off segment on Central Florida News 13, channel 1013.
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