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The Orlando Magic should interview Jerry Stackhouse

By Spencer R. Henderson

MISSISSAUGA, CANADA - APRIL 10: Coach Jerry Stackhouse of the Raptors 905 huddles with his team during the game against the Austin Spurs during Round Two of the NBA G-League playoffs on April 10, 2018 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images)
MISSISSAUGA, CANADA - APRIL 10: Coach Jerry Stackhouse of the Raptors 905 huddles with his team during the game against the Austin Spurs during Round Two of the NBA G-League playoffs on April 10, 2018 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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While the Orlando Magic organization interviews candidates for head coach, Jerry Stackhouse name is one they should not ignore.  

The Orlando Magic are in search for their next leader.

There are some interesting coaching candidates available but probably not for long considering their experience. With coaches like former Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy getting fired from the Detroit Pistons and Dwane Casey getting fired from the Toronto Raptors, Orlando should have a pretty busy summer.

Magic fans would love to swap places with the Raptors’ 2018 campaign. Toronto won 59 games, twice the amount Orlando won and had the Eastern Conference’s top seed. The Toronto Raptors’ shocking four-game sweep to the Cleveland Cavaliers ultimately led the team to move in a new direction.

The result is not ideal for any organization. Especially one that believes it is competing for a championship.

But neither is only winning 25 games.

Fans in Orlando are tired of not making the Playoffs. This is the fifth straight year the Magic sit on the outside looking into the Playoffs.

The Magic have continued to stay mum in their coaching search. At this point, reports have only shown the team has interviewed three candidates — San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka, Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach David Vanterpool and now-New York Knicks coach David Fizdale. The team has surely interviewed more candidates.

But one publicly popular name has been absent. In fact, there is concrete reporting he has not interviewed with the team.

And Raptors 905 coach Jerry Stackhouse is certainly the kind of person who should get a call.

Stackhouse is a proven winner as a player on the NBA level and as a coach at the G-League level. In his playing career, he averaged 16.9 points per game with two All-Star appearances. As a coach for Raptors 905 the last two years, he has picked up a 70-30 record, reaching the G-League Finals twice with a championship in 2017.

He is a guy who can talk to the players as a former player, coach and a mentor. Something several Magic players said they wanted when considering who could be the team’s next coach. Evan Fournier even predicted Stackhouse would be the Magic’s choice.

Everyone senses he would be a perfect fit for the team. Why the Magic have not given him an interview is still something of a mystery to everyone.

It would seem he embodies the kind of mentality the team would need.

Take his play for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals. There, some fans may remember Stackhouse for a hard foul on Shaquille O’Neal in Game 4.

It is that kind of attitude Stackhouse was willing to bring to games. It was a foul we have yet to see any member of the Magic pursue during this five-year slump.

That kind of edge is what Stackhouse would be bringing to a team that has statistically been one of the softest defenses in the NBA during that span.

Stackhouse embodies what type of coach players want to listen to. A player who is respected on all levels of basketball and a coach they can talk to about basketball in between the lines, on and off the court.

Stackhouse was always a consummate professional in his playing days. And he has gotten respect as a coach. It would not be surprising if the Raptors themselves consider promoting him from within to take over for Casey.

He is a respectable coach, if not the best coach in the G-League, with the credentials most NBA coaches do not have. Stackhouse also seems to be the kind of coach that players would run through a brick wall for. He is a motivator who has helped his young players improve and gotten the most out of them.

This type of coach is desperately needed for a young Magic squad searching for direction.

Stackhouse was named the 2017 NBA D-League Coach of The Year with Raptors 905. All on that team’s way to a league title. Some people may sneeze at this accomplishment given the league.

But to be the best coach at the G-League level is exactly why he is considered a top candidate for executives. The G-League is meant to be a breeding ground for new coaches to develop as much as it is for the players. And he was part of an organization that used the G-League extensively to develop their own players — see Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet‘s development under partially Jerry Stackhouse’s care.

Whoever the next leader in Magic blue is, they will have a daunting task of cleaning up one of the worst defenses in the NBA. The Orlando Magic gave up 108 points per game during their 2018 campaign and a 107.7 defensive rating, 20th in the league.

In a league not known for its defense, Stackhouse’s Raptors 905 squad gave up 97.3 points per game and were the only team to give up fewer than 100 points per game in the entire league. They had a league-best 99.9 defensive rating, the only team giving up fewer than one point per possession.

That would suggest Stackhouse could create a successful defensive team in the NBA too.

Orlando already showed some promise offensively. The Magic finished ranking in the top 11 for assists per game in 2018. A lot of that has to do with the Magic not having a star player which forces the team to have to play more of a team-oriented game.

That kind of offensive style — defensive focus with a share-the-ball approach on offense — has worked for the Boston Celtics.

But how could it work in Orlando?

Orlando has not shown the ability to draft or develop cornerstone pieces for their organization like Boston has in the last five years. And Orlando has had the most lottery picks.

With Stackhouse in-house, lottery picks will know or have a sense that a former player that they have seen playing against some of the greats is coaching them. He has helped plenty of his players move onward and upward to the NBA or elsewhere from the G-League.

This kind of hire, at least, could certainly move the needle forward.

Stackhouse seems to have that ability to transform a lottery pick into a special player. Sometimes all it takes is trust from a player to a coach, or more of an increased role from the lottery pick.

His credentials warrant him an interview, and at this point why not? The connection seems to make sense with former Raptors general manager Jeff Weltman running the Magic.

Next: Orlando Magic coaching dominos start to fall

Meanwhile, Orlando will continue its search in quiet.