Orlando Magic extend Rob Hennigan through 2018
The Orlando Magic announced they have extended general manager Rob Hennigan’s contract through the 2018 season.
The Orlando Magic officially announced a contract extension for general manager Rob Hennigan through the 2018 season.
This was a largely expected move as Hennigan was moving into the final year of his contract with the Magic and the team did not want him in a “lame-duck” season where he would be making drastic moves to save his job. By all accounts, the Magic are still bought into Hennigan’s plan and want to continue through it, at least for the next two seasons.
“Under the leadership of Rob (Hennigan), we feel that we are positioning ourselves to be able to contend in a long-term, sustainable fashion,” Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a press release. “We are proud of the work that Rob and our basketball operations department has done to this point and we look forward to taking the next steps in the process.”
The Magic, per team policy, did not disclose the terms of the deal.
Hennigan has not hid from the fact the Magic are in a long-term rebuild. The Magic are not hiding from that either.
Orlando has won a total of 68 games in Hennigan’s three years as general manager. That usually does not portend a whole lot of confidence. But in the wake of Dwight Howard’s exit, the Magic opted to clear the decks completely and build through the Draft. And that takes some time.
The first two seasons for the Magic were focused on clearing salary cap and focusing on the Draft. The Magic secured two top-5 picks in the process in Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon. Orlando has built slowly with short-term free agents to fill the roster to give their young players the chance to grow.
That is not to say, patience is running thin.
Orlando’s 2015 season did not go according to plan and the team did not make the progress it expected. It ended with Hennigan firing his initial coach, admitting a major failure in his plan.
This summer there is some pressure on Hennigan to ensure the Magic deliver and make the progress they failed to make this summer.
The Magic are expected to have another high draft pick — slotted to pick fifth if the Lottery goes to plan — and begin to spend some long-term money to bolster their roster. Hennigan has already committed long-term money in young center Nikola Vucevic and veteran forward Channing Frye. Tobias Harris’ free agency is upcoming, and he is expected to fetch a large contract too.
Of course, the most important decision for Hennigan this summer is putting a good coach in place to lead this team around the corner and back into contention, out of the bottom of the league’s standings.
The Magic would again face the potential for a lame duck season in the 2017-18 season, depending on if Hennigan’s contract has any option years. With the salary cap about to increase — it is estimated and reported it will be near $69 million this upcoming season, growing to approximately $89 million in 2017 and $109 million in 2018 — Hennigan has some very new waters to wade into as a general manager and adjustments to his vision.
In reality, Hennigan will have these next two seasons to show the team is moving in the right direction if he wants that third year and an extension beyond that.
For now, the Magic believe in Hennigan and what he is building. He earned the next stage of his rebuilding plan in their opinion. Now he has the freedom to execute it.