John Denton of the Florida Today reports: The Orlando Magic might attempt to move up from the 18th pick in the first round of tonight's NBA Draft, but Magic general manager John Gabriel and head coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday if such a deal is made, it won't involve shooting guard Mike Miller.

Several teams have called the Magic in the past week inquiring about the availability of Miller, the second-year guard who averaged 15.2 points a game last season. But the Magic stressed that they have no plans of unloading Miller -- even if it means them not getting the much-needed muscle and rebounding they had hoped to cull from tonight's draft.

"The chances are very minimal," Gabriel said of a possible Miller trade. "We have no interest in losing Mike Miller. I think he would go in the lottery if he were in this draft. And if you know that, then why would you make the transaction? But with his salary ($2.5 million) and the two fantastic years he's had, it's only natural that our phones have been ringing from people asking about Mike."

Hanging onto Miller means the Magic likely will remain at 18th -- meaning they will have to chose from a list of big men that include Fresno State's Melvin Ely, Tennessee's Marcus Haislip or Duke's Carlos Boozer.

Of course, the Magic could address their needs at point guard and might have their choice between Illinois' Frank Williams or Gonzaga's Dan Dickau. Orlando is also holding out hope that Memphis guard Dajuan Wagner, Stanford center Curtis Borchardt, Orlando high school sensation Amare Stoudemire or Northeast Mississippi Community College forward Qyntel Woods will plummet to the middle of the first round.

"There are going to be some (centers and power forwards) at 18, but what kind of big guys will they be?" Rivers asked. "And we could always take a point guard there, too. There could be a couple of opportunities to move up. If we think somebody is going to take our guy, we might move up a couple of spots.

"But if everything is equal (between a power player and a guard), it would come down to who had the biggest upside. I'd probably go big because that's more of a team need than at point guard.

RealGM Note: There is also a chance that Orlando might move out of the first round to save caproom for the summer of 2003.