[B]Daniel Orton is not ready for high-level NBA action at this point.[/B] That was painfully obvious during his summer league play and some Orlando Magic fans have wondered out loud if the team wasted a first round draft pick on the former UK big man.
Otis Smith of NBA.com says to not rush judgement on Orton’s NBA future. Smith reports that Orton’s knee was not ready for NBA play this summer, but the Orlando rookie is putting in the work required to improve himself and eventually will have a shot at playing time.
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Here is an excerpt from Smith’s “[URL=”http://www.nba.com/magic/news/ask_otis_091410.html”]Ask Otis[/URL]” column:
[B]Question:[/B] [I]What’s Daniel Orton doing to get into NBA shape and prepare for his upcoming rookie year? What did you like about him that made you feel comfortable making him the 29th pick of the NBA Draft? – David O.[/I]
[B]Otis:[/B] He has good hands, good feet, can pass the ball and can actually shoot the ball pretty well. But what he’s doing now is primarily strengthening up his knee. His knee was not ready to play NBA basketball, so he’s done little on the court and more in the weight room training to get his knee up to strength so he can play an NBA basketball game. His knee was about 70 percent of where it should be to play basketball, so that’s the primary goal. And drafting with the 29th overall pick, for us, you look for a guy that we don’t necessarily need. We drafted a center, but I have two centers in front of him. So it’s not about the need. He has the potential to grow and be a pretty good player if he puts in the work, which up to this point he has done.
