The age-old philosophical question came to mind on Wednesday night as we waited for the Orlando Magic to make their first-round pick in the NBA Draft:

“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”

And if an NBA team trades away its first-round draft pick and no one is there to cheer, does it make a difference?

The answer is a clear NO!

And if you're a Magic fan, that alone is a reason to celebrate.

The Magic usually have a party in the arena on draft night, but not this year. When they selected Brazilian-German forward Tristan da Silva of the University of Colorado with the 18th pick, a draft party on Wednesday night would have started after most people were asleep. This year, the Magic, who did not enter the lottery for the first time since 2020, should have had a party before the draft to celebrate the fact that they did not party during the draft.

Rule of thumb: When teams throw a draft party, it means they are no good and their fans can only get excited about who the latest hope of the day is, acquired via a lottery pick.

Rule of Thumb II: If your team isn't having a draft party and the fans aren't going wild and excited about your selection in one of the final rounds, it usually means your team is pretty good, just came out of the playoffs, and already has a roster full of stars and potential stars.

Don't get me wrong. I'm by no means saying that the da Silva selection is irrelevant to the Magic. I'm just saying that this draft isn't as important to the team's championship hopes as drafts in the past have been. After all, the Magic have moved from constantly restructuring their roster to tweaking and fine-tuning it.

It's no secret that the Magic are now at a point where the negotiating window that begins Sunday and the free agent signing period are more important than Wednesday night's draft.

The fact is, this draft didn't generate much buzz locally or nationally. What does it tell you when seemingly 99 percent of the media coverage leading up to the draft focused on whether the Los Angeles Lakers would use their second-round pick to draft Bronny James so he could play with his father, LeBron? That's right, the biggest story leading up to the draft was whether a borderline second-round pick would be selected by a mediocre play-in team.

Who would have ever thought the Magic's future would look brighter than the Lakers'? Although the Magic lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs, they took the series to a 7th game and proved they can compete with the No. 4 seed in the East. And they currently have enough salary cap space to sign a star free agent who could quickly turn the Magic into a potential championship contender.

When I asked Jeff Weltman, the Magic's president of basketball operations, earlier this week if the draft had become secondary to free agency in the team's development, he declined to comment, suggesting that drafting and developing talent is still the “North Star” that will lead this team on a potential championship path.

“We will not lose the North Star of our team,” Weltman said. “However, I want to emphasize this: There is no one in this building – no one, [including] Players, coaches, staff – that's self-congratulation right now. We haven't accomplished anything yet. We have to work to get back to where we were last year. And that's going to be hard. … If we have the opportunity to bring in experienced players who think like us, who understand the overall concept of what we want to lead the team into, who add to our talent base and experience while fitting in, then yes, we will pursue that.”

Weltman — or any other GM — would ever outright say the draft isn't as important as it was last year or the year before. He did acknowledge, however, that the Magic had to “recalibrate” their expectations for draft night with the 18th pick.

“It's always important to have the right draft picks when possible,” Weltman said. “And it's a chance to sign a good young player that will carry on the legacy of what you want to build on the court, off the court and in the locker room. And the beauty of the draft is that you can get someone who is going to be what the Orlando Magic are from day one. If that person and that player can develop in there and become a key player for your team, that's worth its weight in gold.”

Translation: It would be great if the Magic could find a Joe Dumars with the 18th overall pick like the Detroit Pistons did three decades ago, but statistics show that most 18th-round picks don't become stars.

And then there's this: Do the Magic really need another young developmental player on a roster that still has last year's two lottery picks – Anthony Black and Jett Howard – trying to work their way into the rotation?

On the other hand, da Silva is 23 years old — older than the Magic's top three scorers, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs — and has played four years of college basketball. He is definitely more developed than the traditional one-and-done lottery pick. In fact, Weltman says da Silva “has shooting power, skill, IQ and position size. To meet all of those criteria with the 18th pick is a fair bit of work.”

It's great to have so much young talent on an up-and-coming playoff team, although it certainly took away a lot of the drama and excitement from Wednesday night.

A tree falls in the forest and makes no sound.

The NBA holds a draft without attracting any attention.

For Orlando fans, this is a reason to celebrate, raise a glass and make a toast.

Here's to a boring and quiet draft night, because that means Magic will be making a lot of noise in the days, months, and years to come.

Email me at [email protected], contact me via X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6-9:30am on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen.