Orlando Magic Rumors: Orlando Magic drawing closer to Scott Skiles, fending off others
The Orlando Magic appear to have a certain kind of coach in mind. But Scott Skiles is still their lead choice and they are drawing closer to hiring him.
The assumption this past week is that Scott Skiles will become the next coach of the Orlando Magic.
Maybe that should have been the assumption since February. And it appears to be still very well be the case.
Adrian Wojnarowski reported late Wednesday the Magic and Scott Skiles are “on the cusp of contract negotiations” and Skiles remains the favored candidate because of his ability to turn teams into competitive Playoff outfits based on defense and accountability.
In fact, Ken Berger of CBS Sports reported the Magic pushed Skiles to the top of their list at the request of owner Rich DeVos. You do not ignore your boss’ wishes.
Skiles is definitively on the Magic’s short list to take over as head coach. The other names? Well, the only other substantial rumors involve Tom Thibodeau. There have been reports the Magic will do “whatever it takes” to get Thibodeau and reports Thibodeau is interested in the Magic job.
And then Wojnarowski reported the Magic interviewed Clippers assistant and former Hawks and Knicks head coach Mike Woodson in Los Angeles this past weekend (where several NBA Draft prospects held workouts in front of team scouts, incidentally).
Wojnarowski reports the Magic liked Woodson because, like Skiles, he turned a young team in the Hawks around into a consistent Playoff team and because of his work in making the Knicks a 50-win team.
The Magic favor Skiles though because of his built-in connection to the franchise and connection to the city.
So that is a list of three. Orlando famously keeps things quiet so no one is quite sure how far away the team is from making a final decision and who the team has interviewed — much less who else it has interviewed.
There are other teams with head coach openings — New Orleans and Denver — and those teams have their own processes too.
If the Magic are truly after Scott Skiles in a serious way, they have competition.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Wednesday Skiles also interviewed for the Pelicans’ head coaching vacancy and is being considered. The Pelicans also reportedly interviewed ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy and Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry.
Live Feed
FanSided
So Skiles appears to have a market. This may make the Magic pick up their pace and hammer out the details of a deal to secure their head coach. Competition tends to create leverage. And the Magic, Wojnarowski reported, will continue to negotiate a deal through Thursday.
That kind of competition is what the Bulls were hoping for in Thibodeau. And so in comes the next wrinkle in the Magic’s seemingly interminable coaching search.
A report came out recently suggesting the Bulls would wait for the other coaching vacancies to close before making a decision on their current head coach. This was couched as both a desire to get as much compensation as possible for Thibodeau, who has two years remaining on his contract, and a desire to keep Thibodeau off a sideline for a year (and also a professional discourtesy).
However, the Bulls too appear ready to move on.
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports the Bulls are hoping to make a decision Thibodeau’s future no later than Friday. That could free up the most-sought-after coach among those available. And Thibodeau was not even really available.
While Thibodeau certainly comes with a lot of pedigree and the ability not only to transform a franchise to respectability, but also make them championship contenders, he does not fit the mold of the other coaches the Magic have interviewed.
Thibodeau is a coach that takes teams already in the Playoffs to that next level. He has never taken over a rebuild like this. Unlike Skiles and Woodson.
For all their faults, there is a common thread between the two. They take bad teams and make them mediocre and that is it.
For now, that appears to be what the Magic want. They are putting the championship ambitions to the side to find tangible results in the present.
Who is to say though what would happen if a coach of Thibodeau’s caliber actually did come available. Things could move very quickly shortly and the Magic’s direction from the head coach position could be set — or at least become clearer.