With the 11th pick, the Magic select Fran Vazquez, a forward out of Spain. Vazquez is 22 years old, stand at 6'11" and weighs 230 pounds. I am not sure what the Magic are thinking with this pick. Vazquez might be a good pick for a lot of teams, but with Sean May, Rashad McCants, Antoine Wright, Joey Graham and Hakim Warrick stil on the board - I just don't think you can make this pick.
The winners of the draft so far, well Utah definitely stole the show. They traded up to #3 and selected Deron Williams. Charlotte fans have a lot to be happy about. The Bobcats somehow ended up with Sean May and Raymond Felton. Are you kidding me? Paired with Emeka Okafor, the Bobcats could see an immediate improvement from last year.
10 Comments on "No. 11 Pick - Fran Vazquez"
Hi, just some comments from Spain. Fran Vazquez is a player from our team, Unicaja Málaga, one of the top clubs in Spain. This year Fran Vazquez won one of the two major competitions we have, the king´s cup. He has also played for Spain, you could saw him during the last olimpics where Spain played so good. Fran has experience, movements, skills.... he has played three play-off, has had two of the best trainer in Europe (Maljkovic and Scariolo) and Garbajosa (top Spanish player behind Gasol) as a mirror to see at and is a promise that may occur soon. If you were looking for a new Shaq, i´m agree with your feelings, as a i don´t know your team needs, but let him time and he will rock you. He will be a succes! Bear in mind. From now on i will follow your team, Cheers!
Hi, Orlando!
I´m agree with the message of UnicajaMalagaFan, Fran Vazquez is a greet player and he´ll improve... he´s magic for the Magic! Congratulations for the choice: Fran is the pick of the crop ;-)
Saludos, David
With the 11th selection in a draft where numerous players with identifiable skills slipped down in the 10-20 selection area, the Magic chose Fran Vazquez. What the heck are they thinking?!? This pick is already one of the most puzzling of the entire draft. Wait a couple years when Sean May, Hakim Warrick and Gerald Green reach full potential. While Magic fan's watch (once again) as players that could have been wearing blue and white pin-stripes dominate the league, we'll (once again) curse the front office personel that selected a no-name, no-talent, no-good baller from across the pond. Apparently the Magic will never be able to sort through available players and accurately assess talent.
Derek - I hear you! This guy ~might~ turn out to be a good player - but, how can you pass up Sean May? For no other reason than trade value alone. I just don't understand the decisions this team makes.
Time will tell on the Magic's first round pick, but they definitely filled a need - size. While there were good players left I also like their second round pick, Travis Diener.I don't think the other players left on the board when the Magic took Vazquez were all that much better and size is a huge need. It's all a crap shoot anyway. I know they've had a checkered history with the draft, but they did well with Howard and Nelson. Maybe this is two in a row.
Jeff - Well, ~maybe~. But, think about the hustle that Sean May showed at UNC. Imagine him and Howard playing together. The Orlando fans love the hustle. Personally, it doesn't bother me to lose - so long as the team is playing hard and have a chance at the end of the game. I'm afraid we won't see much of our #11 pick this year and possibly beyond. With a May or Wright, you're getting a guy that is ready to play.
TJ - I hear you about the hustle. But, I think Sean May was undersized to be a '4'in the NBA and can't jump. He unathletic and has a bad body. I think Brian Hill's teams have and will play hard. I like the gamble. At 11 it's tough. It will also be interesting to see how May fits with Okafor. I believe in Dave Twardzik and Otis Smith. You can't tell me that they weren't the ones behind picking Howard last year over Okafor and I know for sure that Twardzik was all over the Jameer deal. Any way it's good to have two basketball people running the show. Coupled with Brian Hill, I like the core for the Magic - Dhoward, Ghill, Jnelson, Sfrancis, Hturk...Less than 24 months ago they had the worst record in the league.Last year, with no coaching, they improved by 15 games or so...With a little defense, they should be a playoff team. Maybe Fran will surprise us, but it still comes down to the core and better defense.
Jeff - Probably so. I like the core we have going and I am sure the organization has a short term and long term plan. As ~fans~, I guess we'll just wait and see.
I thought it was a pretty good pick. He has a 7'6 wingspan, and he can play either PF or C. So we can just interchange him with Dwight. He is a legit 6'11 too, 6'10 without shoes. Sean May will be one of those solid players, but nothing too good. He has short arms and is short for the position. I think Fran adds another shot blocker and rebounder, and now Dwight has help up front in the future anyway. BTW - Fran is a sick dunker like dwight. He throws it down with power and hardly gets blocked because of his ridiculously long arms. Diener is a solid point guard imo, and I saw Gortat in the summer league, and that was a pretty good pick for #57. Gortat is very defensive oriented, and has great hands on defense. I think we had a great draft, just my two cents.
i, too, was surprised by the magic's picking of vazquez...but i think that before we speak too critical about him, let's just see him play first and at least give him the benefit of a doubt. i mean, even if the magic's draft history isn't all that good except for shaq, webber, mike miller and dwight howard, we have seen them bounce back from these kind of situations, although not in a significant way. so, let's just wait and see till next season.