Jeff Weltman Reportedly Hired by Magic as President of Basketball Operations

The Orlando Magic reportedly have their new president of basketball operations.

On May 22, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported Orlando hired Toronto Raptors general manager Jeff Weltman to the position. Wojnarowski cited league sources who said the two sides finalized a five-year deal Monday.

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel also reported the news and said Weltman will report to CEO Alex Martins.

On Thursday, Wojnarowski reported the Raptors will receive the less desirable of Orlando's two 2018 second-round NBA draft picks as compensation for hiring Weltman. 

Weltman joined the Raptors' front office in 2013 and was promoted to general manager in 2016. Wojnarowski noted he was "deeply involved in every aspect of the Raptors' front office under Masai Ujiri as Toronto became a perennial Eastern Conference contender."

Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports reacted to the news:

Weltman spent five seasons as the assistant general manager for the Milwaukee Bucks before joining Toronto.

According to Wojnarowski, the Magic were also interested in Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin before hiring Weltman—who will be given the right to hire a general manager to work under him.

Weltman has a rebuilding project ahead of him considering the Magic have suffered through five straight losing seasons. However, they have the No. 6 overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft and possess some young talent with Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton and Nikola Vucevic.

The new president of basketball operations helped lead the Raptors back from Eastern Conference obscurity. Toronto was coming off five straight losing seasons before he joined team, and it has made the playoffs the last four years.

He will look to do the same with Orlando.