Orlando City opted
not to make a trade, skipping the first two rounds of the MLS Super Draft.
LOS ANGELES — A team of Orlando City coaches and frontoffice staff remained at their purple-draped table until the first two rounds of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft came to an end, but Friday was an uneventful day for the Lions.
The club previously traded its top picks — the first last month to acquire defender Donny Toia from Atlanta United FC after the expansion draft and second to the Houston Dynamo in 2015 for defender Corey Ashe, who no longer is with the team.
Additional movement left the Lions with the 64th and 74th overall picks in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, which will be held Tuesday via telephone conference.
“We didn’t have any draft picks in the top two rounds entering today, but we still went into it preparing as if we did, in case we did make a trade,” Orlando City general manager Niki Budalic said, flanked by head coach Jason Kreis and all three Lions assistants. “Unfortunately, nothing’s happened thus far, but we’re OK with that. We have done a lot of our recruitment ahead of this draft.
“We do have a couple of things we will be announcing shortly, with regard to young players. One that is being signed and one that will be coming in for training, for a trial. So we’re pretty happy with where we’re at right now.”
Budalic would not reveal who the players were, but said they will come from both within and outside the Orlando City Soccer Club system.
This year’s draft was a departure from 2015 and 2016 when Orlando City made headlines by taking striker Cyle Larin with the No. 1 overall pick in the club’s inaugural year and then selected Richie Laryea and UCF product Hadji Barry in the first round of 2016.
Instead, attention turned to 2017 expansion sides Atlanta United FC and Minnesota United FC with the top two overall picks.
Minnesota, led by former Orlando City coach Adrian Heath, took UCLA’s Abu Danladi, a Ghanian striker, No. 1 overall.
Defender Miles Robinson (Syracuse) went second, joining former Orlando City general manager Paul McDonough in Atlanta, along with former Lions Harrison Heath and Mikey Ambrose.
Then NYCFC gave $250,000 of general allocation money to the Chicago Fire for the No. 3 pick, selecting Florida native Jonathan Lewis (Akron).
Lewis was the only Floridian drafted, but two University of South Florida players went in the second round. Philadelphia traded up to get Mississippi-born striker Marcus Epps 25th overall and San Jose took South African midfielder Lindo Mfeka with the 28th pick.
Molino sought
During the draft, social media buzzed over a Goal USA report that Minnesota made a substantial offer to Orlando City for midfielder Kevin Molino.
Budalic responded to the article midway through the draft, telling the Orlando Sentinel, “We are definitely not actively shopping Kevin Molino. He’s a big part of our plans next year and a very valuable member of our squad.”
According to the report, Minnesota made a “sizable offer to Orlando City for Molino, with allocation money the key element of the offer,” and Molino is unhappy with his salary, which was $121,400 last season based on numbers released by the MLS Players Union.
Heath always was a fan of Molino, who has been with Orlando City since its USL days. The Trinidad and Tobago playmaker was the club’s first MLS signee.
“We are definitely not actively shopping Kevin Molino. He’s a big part of our plans next year and a very valuable member of our squad.” Orlando City GM Niki Budalic responding to a report Minnesota United is seeking Molino