2010 NBA Draft: Orlando Magic Reportedly Attend Workouts In New Jersey

If you follow the run up to the 2010 NBA draft, you will hear very little chatter about the Orlando Magic.

Presently, the Magic have scheduled no private workouts for potential draftees. Other than Dominique Jones—up until last week, the Magic seemed somewhat indifferent to the upcoming draft.

Orlando fans know general manager Otis Smith's best quality—his ability to keep the team's intentions secret, makes reading tea leaves near impossible when dealing with Orlando.

In an interview with Orlando Sentinel reporter Tania Ganguli , Smith said the Magic would keep their first-round draft pick.

When asked if he would attend any pre-draft workouts, Smith stated, “Nope...but I have scouts at different places.”

Reportedly one of those places would be last week's private workout in New Jersey.

The workout lasted from Wednesday through Friday, with different players on each day. Based upon reports from various sources, the Magic showed strong interest in Darington Hobson from New Mexico.

Critics of Dobson will cite his academic issues coming out of high school, and only playing one year of Division I basketball.

Downgrading Dobson for potential character issues makes good sense. Stupid players end up not playing for long periods —see Gilbert Arenas.

Research into Dobson's history absolves many of those concerns.

As a prep, Dobson started high school while living with his family in Las Vegas. His mother later moved to Texas, and Dobson moved to be with his mother.

After making some bad decisions to transfer high schools multiple times, Dobson's transcript suffered.

Forced to take the junior college route due to grades, he did what was needed academically. Since a student at both the juco and Division I levels, Dobson remained issue free.

In his NBA Draft Combine interview from Draft Express , Dobson recognized that transferring from school to school hurt him coming into this year's draft.

Originally projected as a second-round choice, he seems to be assured a spot in the late first-round.

As far as only playing one full season at the highest collegiate level, he used that one season to showcase his skills as best anyone could.

Start with the Mountain West Conference accolades, Mountain West Player of the Year, Mountain West Newcomer of the Year and first team All-Mountain West. Questions about the level of competition within the Mountain West hurt Dobson's early projections.

Stat wise, the versatile the wingman put up good numbers.

Hobson and Ohio State's Evan Turner were the only players in Div. I to average more than 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists a game.

He became the first New Mexico player to get 500 points, 300 rebounds and 150 assists in a single season. The rebounds and assists excite pro scouts.

Even more impressive, he had 14 double-doubles, nine of which came in the last 12 games.

He also has good size, at 6'7" and 205 pounds. You can easily see Dobson getting with Dwight Howard's personal trainer and adding five to ten pounds of muscle.

In terms of actual in-game skills, Dobson brings plenty to the table.

Scouting reports taut his shot-making ability. He can score off the dribble, shoot the jumper and play from the post.

In addition, he passes well, rebounds at a high level and gets fouls on drives.

His shooting becomes inconsistent at times, but with the ability to score in so many ways, the Magic may not need to rely on his jumper.

He favors his right hand and other small quirks, keep him out of the top 10 in the first-round. He will also need to learn to run the half-court offense as a backup point guard to get more minutes early on.

Dobson off the bench would be a big improvement for Stan Van Gundy. Orlando's head coach presently lacks shot-creators to help in tough games.

With Dobson, SVG could possibly regain some of what he lost with Courtney Lee.

Depending on who takes on the power forward duties next season, Rashard Lewis could now have an additional play-making threat when leading the backups.

Most important, he could settle into the three position he prefers.

One big downside of Dobson, he impresses scouts more at every workout.

Internet reports indicate Dobson has received a guarantee from a late first-round team . One of those teams could be the Magic.

But at No. 29 on the draft board, he most likely would be gone.

If the Magic like him that much, the team may be considering a way to trade up.