French combo forward Noah Penda is heading to the Orlando Magic to start his NBA career
By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
The Orlando Magic completed a trade with the Boston Celtics to secure the services of Noah Penda with the 32nd selection of the 2025 NBA Draft presented by State Farm. The newcomer is expected to debut in the Summer League 2025.
The president of basketball operations, Jeff Weltman, walked through the process leading trading up and eventually selecting the 20-year-old French combo forward on Thursday.
“Noah is a very unique player,” he said during a post-draft press conference, “He’s 6’7 plus. Seven-foot wingspan. Probably about 250 (lb). And he’s exceptionally skilled, a very good ball-handler, a very good passer, and an excellent defender.”
After starting his professional career in the lower divisions of France, Penda joined Le Mans last summer to debut in the top-tier Betclic Elite, after being named in the All-Tournament Team in a championship-winning run with France in the FIBA U20 EuroBasket 2024. An impressive climb was continued by earning the 2024-25 Best Young Player award, in addition to helping his side reach the domestic league Playoffs and the Coupe de France Final, and win the Leaders Cup.
“When we first saw him, he kind of struck us in one of our first trips to Europe this year, as a guy to flag for the rest of the season. We’ve been tracking him pretty closely,” Weltman recalled scouting visits in France.
The Paris native also made a strong impression in Orlando.
“When we were able to get him in for a visit, we were looking at him at 25,” Weltman shared initial draft projections of Penda, “He had a very good visit with us, on and off the court. And you guys know how important the person is to us. And we just felt he’s kind of got Magic DNA.”
“He’s a very well-rounded player with an exceptionally high IQ. He’s a very smart player on both ends of the court. His statistical numbers with steals, deflections, and blocks are very high-level. And able to cover multiple positions, I think the fans will see he is a unique player,” he further explained.
The immediate compensation for the C’s went into selecting British Amari Williams with the 46th pick and Ukrainian Max Shulga with the 57th pick. They also got one second-round pick in 2026 and one in 2027 for Penda.
Photo Credit: FIBA
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