Orlando Magic Roster Offers Immense Potential, Promise for Next Head Coach
Let the Orlando Magic's head-coaching sweepstakes begin now.
Yes, the search for Orlando's next sideline stalker can indeed be considered a sweepstakes. As first definitively reported by Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski and eventually confirmed by the team itself, the Magic dispatched third-year head coach Jacque Vaughn.
This day of reckoning was considered inevitable. A source previously told Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel that Magic management was "not happy at all" and would not "settle for this."
Not one week later, having lost 10 straight games and 16 of their last 18, the Magic handed Vaughn his pink slip. Wojnarowski says assistant James Borrego will assume coaching responsibilities in the meantime, but potential replacements are already flying off the cuff.
Alex Kennedy of BasketballInsiders.com identifies Scott Skiles, Mark Jackson, Mike Malone and George Karl as candidates who are expected to receive consideration. Notice how none of them are inexperienced. They are all established head honchos who have already had coaching success and/or been around the block a few times. That's not an accident.
"The Magic want an experienced, proven head coach," writes Kennedy, "who will help them win right away and immediately have the respect of the players, according to sources.
Weird, right? The Magic are 22 games under .500, eight games back of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot and rank in the bottom six of both offensive and defensive efficiency. Their performance this season is not one that would suggest they'll have run of the coaching litter.
Except they will.
Wojnarowski offers some succinct thoughts on this:
A presumably torpid-turning coaching carousel helps the Magic here. Nine teams swapped out head coaches last summer, limiting the opportunities available. Plenty of seats are getting hotter, but as of now, the only known vacancy the Magic are competing against is the Sacramento Kings' gig—assuming they don't want to keep Tyrone Corbin around past this season.
Beyond a stale job market, Orlando also boasts upside other locales do not: assets on assets on assets.
The Magic own all of their first-round picks and may wind up possessing one of the Los Angeles Lakers' future first-rounders depending on how their commitments to the Phoenix Suns shake out, according to RealGM.
There are no bad contracts on the books, either. Signing veterans Ben Gordon and Channing Frye over the summer was odd, but the Magic hold a team option on Gordon next season and Frye's deal is tradeable.
But the Magic's young talent is more attractive than anything else. They already have a core in place, a foundation upon which they can build.
Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo project as one of the next star duos. Payton leads all rookies in assists (5.8) and ranks second in steals (1.4). Oladipo is one of just seven players averaging at least 16.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals on 44 percent shooting. The remaining six read like a who's who of stars: Chris Paul, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, John Wall, James Harden and Eric Bledsoe.
Orlando is also armed with two lethal perimeter scorers in Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier, the former of whom will be a restricted free agent. Harris is second on the team in scoring and has drastically improved his three-point stroke, while Fournier has developed into a lethal spot-up marksman (41.2 percent on catch-and-shoot threes).
Up front, the Magic boast a vast cluster of talent worth evaluating, from last year's No. 4 pick in Aaron Gordon to Kyle O'Quinn, Maurice Harkless and Andrew Nicholson. The latter two have fallen out of the rotation in recent weeks, but they were both selected in the top 20 of their respective drafts.
Finally, and most importantly, the Magic have Nikola Vucevic, the Eastern Conference's biggest All-Star snub.
There isn't one other player averaging at least 19 points, 11 rebounds and two assists on 50 percent shooting this season. Just Vucevic. Best of all, the Magic have him locked up through 2018-19 after signing the 24-year-old to a four-year, $53 million extension that will look like a bargain once the salary cap erupts in 2016.
What other rebuilding teams boast a similarly promising and deep core?
Exactly.
Sure, the record is concerning. The Boston Celtics stripped the roster of their best players and are still flirting with playoff contention. The Magic should be doing the same given their deep well of performing prospects. That they're on pace to finish with just one more win—at most—compared to last season is concerning.
But this is a process. This is also a team that hasn't been running a system conducive to its strengths.
Stocked with athletic guards, explosive forwards and a nimble big man (Vucevic), the Magic are built to run. Vaughn emphasized half-court sets, suffocating their end-to-end potential. The team ranks middle of the road in pace factor and 23rd in fast-break points per game, according to TeamRankings.com.
Systematic tweaks will go a long way in improving Orlando's state. Finding an established coach willing to leave his schematic footprint on this roster won't be difficult. Really, the Magic only have to worry about timing—figuring out whether they should hire a coach this season or over the summer.
Although there are obvious advantages to hiring someone immediately, waiting offers its own appeal. Not only would the Magic have an opportunity to poach top assistants, but they'll have a better idea of what the roster will look like for next season, allowing them to tailor their hire to its specifics.
As CBS Sports' Matt Moore underscores:
"But the specific candidates are less of the issue than the fact that you want a clear evaluation. If the Magic win the lottery, they'll want a coach to work with big men like Jahlil Okafor or Karl Towns. If something unexpected were to happen in free agency, that will play into it. And of course, this assumes that Rob Hennigan remains in charge as general manager. But there's just very little in the way of an advantage to signing someone days after firing your coach. ...
Orlando wants to get better now, it wants to serve its fans who have been patient. But they would be better off taking their time and getting a stronger vision of where they want to go with a hire this summer, when all the options are available, than making an instinctive decision now.
"
Waiting appears to be the route Orlando is traveling. When asked about the upcoming coaching search, Hennigan hinted that it may take a while.
“We’re going to take it day by day; James Borrego is our coach,” he said, per Kennedy. “We’re supporting JB. Our players are supporting JB...I’m not going to get into specifics about anything relative to a coaching situation other than the fact that JB is our coach.”
Whenever the Magic make their decision doesn't really matter. Not insofar as it entails them landing their top choice. They have everything they need to reel in a premier candidate, right down to a high lottery pick this June, when they'll add yet another touted youngster to an already-furnished stable. And the importance of this cannot be overstated.
Coaching changes usually symbolize turmoil. They precede, or are the offshoot of, reaching rock bottom. They portend a lengthy project sheathed in twists and turns, patience and process, losses and growing pains.
The Magic, despite their record, are different. There isn't a coaching candidate, experienced, trumpeted or otherwise, who won't appreciate and consider all the Magic have to offer.
Work still needs to be done, but this is a Magic team packed with possibility—enough incumbent promise to guarantee they're not searching for a sideline savior so much as they're after someone to take them where they're already built to go.
*Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference and NBA.com and are accurate as of games played Feb. 4, 2015 unless otherwise cited. Salary information via HoopsHype.
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