2018 NBA Mock Draft: If need were all that mattered

Is star power a quantifiable NBA quality? It’s tough to peg exactly what makes a player special enough to enter the rarified air of superstardom or even stardom, but Young has as good a bet as any to make that leap during his career. He certainly reached that peak at Oklahoma and could do so again in the right NBA situation. That just might be Orlando — the team has to bet it will be.

With Jonathan Isaac and potentially Aaron Gordon in place in addition to a variety of gifted role players on the wing, it’s not as if Orlando is a ghost town. The Magic have put together a roster of players that would complement a gifted shooter and passer like Young, and at the very least provide Young an environment to learn and develop far better than the one he made the most of at Oklahoma.

That includes Wesley Iwundu, Jonathon Simmons and Terrence Ross, who would form a formidable rotation of players who could defend and hit shots next to Young. Remember, this Magic team used a hot shooting month to catapult near the top of the standings. If they could get more consistent performance out of their point guards and a full season of Isaac, it’s not difficult to imagine them improving.

Young could be the cog in all of that, and attract more fans toward a team that finished in the bottom half of the league in attendance yet again. Orlando hasn’t had anything close to a star since Dwight Howard left, and Young gets them the closest of nearly anyone in this draft.