Orlando Magic Rumors: Orlando Magic considering Kevin McHale for front office
The Orlando Magic’s short list for their general manager spot continues to narrow down. The team is interested in pursuing Kevin McHale to fill the seat.
The Orlando Magic are interested in hiring former Minnesota Timberwolves general manager and current TNT commentator Kevin McHale, Sam Amick of USA TODAY reports. According to Amick’s sources, the Magic’s interest in the Hall of Fame power forward is serious.
The team still appears to be in the early stages of its general manager search. Just about every name that is available has seemingly been attached to the Magic’s job in one way or another. Just Friday, Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical reported the Magic were interested in contacting Larry Bird after he stepped down as Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations.
The team is also reportedly interested in pursuing Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin. Griffin’s contract expires at the end of the season and he and the Cavaliers have reached an impasse in contract negotiations.
McHale certainly fits some of the known criteria for the Magic.
As has become apparent from even the early short list that emerged about who the Magic might hire, the team is looking for experience. Griffin, Bird and McHale fit that description.
McHale was the general manager for the Timberwolves from 1995-2008. That included the Kevin Garnett era and its aftermath. He also spent some time as the team’s head coach during that time.
He would later go on to coach the Houston Rockets from 2011-16, including coaching the team to the Western Conference Finals in 2015. He was fired in the 2016 season after the Rockets got off to a slow start.
McHale, as an executive, had a hand in helping the Timberwolves get to their best but also oversaw some questionable decisions too. His record is a bit of a mixed bag.
Orlando Magic
But that experience and his basketball knowledge helped him both as an executive and a coach put together some solid teams. The only thing is he has rarely been able to maintain that success for long. His record — a .556 win percentage as a coach in Minnesota and Houston and a .500 win percentage as an executive with Minnesota — is middling, at best.
Still, there is no doubt he has had success in this league and has relationships throughout the league as both an executive and former player. He is open to analytics and meshing old school basketball insight and knowledge with new-school approaches. And, judging by his TNT commentary, he is fairly knowledgeable about the game.
The Magic could do a lot worse.
It would appear the team would hire McHale as the president of basketball operations. Every name that has surfaced so far would seem to be for this role. It suggests the team will have a president of basketball operations with a general manager working underneath him.
And increasingly, it would seem the team seems willing to keep interim general manager Matt Lloyd in his current position. At the very least, the Magic would give perhaps a younger fixture as the day-to-day general manager to work with the big name they hire.
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With these reports coming out, it would seem the Magic are still working out their short list. Most likely the team will begin contacting and interviewing candidates in the next week as the Playoffs enter the second round.