Orlando Magic have no reason to speed through coaching search
The Orlando Magic coaching search is moving along at a slow pace. Reportedly they’re waiting on Tom Thibodeau. But with little competition, waiting is right.
The Orlando Magic are not going to let the public know how their coaching search is going.
Sorry. That is just not the way they operate.
At this point, two weeks after the season has ended, they could have interviewed several candidates — including the believed to be known candidates like Scott Skiles and perhaps even the recently fired Scott Brooks — or they could have interviewed none, choosing instead to carefully cull their list and research the candidates they want to bring in when they are ready to make their move.
There is a desire to get this piece to the puzzle solved. A very real desire to do so. And to do so quickly because it is so important. Everything the Magic do this offseason — and maybe for the next two or three years — relies on the coaching hire.
It is a move the Magic need to get right and a move that could tip the dominoes for all the moves to come this summer.
So excuse some impatience.
With the Thunder hiring Billy Donovan fairly quickly after firing Scott Brooks, the Magic have been given no reason to move quickly. Waiting for Tom Thibodeau or to complete whatever due diligence or homework they need on the candidates they have on their list.
It appears, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel suggests, the Magic are waiting to see what happens with Tom Thibodeau before making any definitive move with their head coach search. The Nuggets — along with potentially the Raptors — might be too.
"But many league observers think there are valid reasons for the seemingly slow pace of the Magic’s coaching search.The theory mentioned most often revolves around current Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. The league observers speculate that the Magic want to see whether the Bulls and Thibodeau will part ways after the Bulls conclude their playoff run."
There will be no interviewing Thibodeau until the Bulls get eliminated from the Playoffs. Then there is the little matter of the Bulls letting him out of his contract to begin with — and whatever compensation comes from that.
The same would go for Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry. No team will get their chance to talk to him until the Warriors are eliminated from the Playoffs. Same would go for Tyronn Lue if the Magic were interested in another failed starting Magic point guard from the 2000s.
Scott Skiles and Scott Brooks are available now if the Magic want to interview them. So too would former head coaches like Vinny Del Negro. Or even Spurs assistant Ettore Messina now that the Spurs have been eliminated.
The list of guys the Magic can look at more closely and interview has grown a lot just by the advancement of the Playoffs.
Orlando is only competing with Denver for a head coaching position right now. There are no other jobs open in the NBA. The competition for head coaching positions is not likely to change right now.
The Magic are notoriously patient when it comes to making these decisions. And with no competition — or little competition, but many consider the Magic job to be more attractive than the Nuggets job — the Magic are right to continue being patient.
To wait on Thibodeau, in other words, and make sure they have every potential candidate available to them.
There are already rumors that some in Thibodeau’s camp have looked into the Magic job. If those are true — and surely through back channels the Magic have some idea of his actual interest — then the Magic are right to wait.
What would be bad is to wait too long and lose out on having a coach involved in the Draft process or miss the Draft entirely. It is important to have that person in place for the Draft and, especially, for Summer League when players start getting the system ingrained.
For now, the Magic are on the correct path and the correct pace for their coaching search. They are surely doing their homework and research on the candidates they would like to interview. And if Thibodeau becomes available and is interested, the Magic need to remain in position to hire him.