The Orlando Magic’s search for a new front office head seems to be in a holding pattern as they await the opportunity to interview David Griffin.
Now that the NBA Draft Lottery is out of the way and the Orlando Magic know they will pick sixth in the NBA Draft, the team is focusing more narrowly on what it can do in the future.
Of course, there is still a bit of mystery about who will make that decision. The Magic have gone through the early draft process with interim general manager Matt Lloyd leading the charge. The team is still searching for permanent leadership in the form of a president of basketball operations.
Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported the Magic had requested permission from the Cleveland Cavaliers to interview David Griffin but had not received a response from the team or owner Dan Gilbert. The Atlanta Hawks are also believed to be interested in Griffin for their now-vacant general manager job.
Everyone, it seems, is in something of a holding pattern.
Griffin, whose contract expires at the end of the season and has not engaged in serious contract negotiations according to several reports, is likely the top executive on the market.
Wojnarowski reports Griffin is seeking compensation more in line with the top general managers in the league. Gilbert seems to be holding a bit of a line to try to cut costs. But it appears the Cavaliers still want to retain a quality executive who helped deliver a championship to his team.
It does appear, according to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops, the Cavaliers are beginning to get serious about getting a deal done.
For now, it seems the Magic are willing to wait to hear from Griffin before making a final decision on their president of basketball operations. Everything is in a holding pattern until then. And that is not likely to happen until after the Finals.
Orlando Magic
The Magic have interviewed a few candidates for the job already.
According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, the Magic reached out to Larry Bird. But he did not seem receptive to jumping back in full time with a team and remains pretty loyal to the Simon family and the Indiana Pacers. He also reported the Magic are interested in Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond and are believed to have reached out to Kevin McHale and former Pacers and Bucks executive David Morway.
At a certain point, the Magic will not be able to wait any longer. They will have to make a decision. The sooner the team finds out whether Griffin is really going to stay in Cleveland or entertain leaving, the better for the franchise.
Orlando appears to be moving slowly with this search waiting for the chance to speak to their top candidate. But the team appears to be moving on other fronts to identify and speak to other candidates.
Undoubtedly, Orlando would like to have its leadership in place before it dives too deep into the draft process. The Magic have gathered a lot of information and the new lead executive will lean on that intelligence. But ultimately it will be his decision to make. And it will be an important one.
At what point does the team make a final decision is still unknown. It may take until the end of the Finals to get that chance at Griffin. What effect that will have on the Magic’s critical draft preparations is unknown.
Next: Orlando Magic prepared however the Lottery turns out
Things will have to move quickly here though. The team will be running a search on two fronts. The search and preparation for the right players to select in the Draft. And the search for the leader who will make that important decision.