Xavier guard Jordan Crawford could be an intriguing prospect for the Orlando Magic in Thursday's NBA draft (Photo by Colin E. Braley, The Associated Press)
Over the next couple of days, we’ll take a look at some players whom the Orlando Magic might select with the 29th overall pick in Thursday’s NBA draft.
For some analysis, I turned to the NBA’s scouting director, Ryan Blake, who was kind enough to speak with me about the prospects this afternoon.
We’ll begin with Jordan Crawford. He was one of the six players who worked out for the Magic today at RDV Sportsplex.
JORDAN CRAWFORD
Position: Guard
Height/Weight: 6-4/195
Age: Will turn 22 on Oct. 23
College: Xavier
2009-10 stats: 20.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.9 apg, .462 fg%, .391 3p%, .773 ft%
Career highlights: Led the Atlantic 10 in scoring last season as a sophomore. . . . Averaged 29.0 points per game in Xavier’s three games in the NCAA Tournament. . . . Played at Indiana in 2007-08 but transferred after his freshman season. . . . Perhaps is best known for dunking over LeBron James during a basketball camp last summer.
Blake’s take: “The guy’s a great athlete. He’s an explosive jumper and finisher. He needed to improve his shooting ability and he did that. Once he transferred from Indiana, he had that year off. I know he got a lot of pub from the dunk over LeBron; that just doesn’t mean anything, because you’ve got to know how to play the game. But when you’re at 20 points, five rebounds and three assists and you improve to around 40 percent from beyond the arc, you can’t ignore that. He needs to become a better defender and play both ends of the floor. He’s going to be a combo guard, but he’s going to have to play off the ball. So, he must understand the game from a team’s perspective and know his role.”
Follow Josh Robbins on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.
