Orlando Magic coaching dominos begin to fall, including the Toronto Raptors connection

The coaching dominos around the league began to fall with the Toronto Raptors’ surprise dismissal of Dwane Casey. The Orlando Magic are keeping quiet.

The coaching dominos have begun to fall around the league.

The jobs left open at the end of the season have begun to fill. Igor Kokoskov is with the Phoenix Suns. David Fizdale, who interviewed with the Orlando Magic, now coaches the New York Knicks. The Charlotte Hornets announced they hired former Orlando Magic interim coach James Borrego. The Atlanta Hawks have announced they will hire Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce.

That leaves just the Milwaukee Bucks, the Detroit Pistons and now the Toronto Raptors along with the Orlando Magic with coaching vacancies in the league.

It feels like the Bucks and Raptors are looking for more experienced coaches to help push their team further in the Playoffs — former Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer has popped up in connection with both jobs. The Pistons are probably looking for the same — with Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, they likely feel they are closer to the Playoffs than not.

It seems the Magic are the lone team looking for a long-term rebuild still without a coach. They have been patiently going through their process. Quietly going through their process.

The widely held assumption for the Magic was they were waiting on the Raptors’ elimination from the Playoffs to finish their coaching search.

Many suspect the Magic would target Raptors assistant coach Nick Nurse. The connection between president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and the Raptors’ organization largely fed those rumors. Just like that fed the assumption the Magic would pursue Raptors 905 head coach Jerry Stackhouse. There have been no reports confirming the Magic have interviewed Stackhouse as of yet.

But the Raptors do throw another hat in the ring. Their somewhat surprising dismissal of Dwane Casey has left another door open but created complications perhaps for a team like the Magic. Or at least what the Magic reportedly want to do.

While the Raptors may consider coaches like Budenholzer or other more experienced coaches, they may also go within their own staff.

David Aldridge of TNT reported the Raptors would consider promoting Nick Nurse or Rex Kalamian, another coaching prospect the Magic might look at. The Raptors staying internal would throw a wrench in a lot of the rumors about the Magic. And could have other effects — like when the Indiana Pacers kept Nate McMillan and the entirety of Frank Vogel’s staff after he was fired.

It would seem the Raptors are not quite as sold on going outside of their family as some might otherwise believe. And that certainly throws a wrench in the Magic’s plans.

Or maybe it is the exact domino they were waiting on. Maybe they had an eye on hiring Casey from the start and were willing to bet on his dismissal to wait things out. Reportedly they were unwilling to offer Fizdale a contract after his interview. They are going slowly and quietly through their process.

At this point, the Magic are still keeping everyone in the dark. Their interest in Nick Nurse or Rex Kalamian or anyone else might be completely overstated. Nobody knows what the Magic are looking for or who they are interested in. Or even how far along in the process they might be.

It would make sense to say the Magic should find a coach very soon. The draft process will pick up this week with the NBA Draft Lottery and NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. The coaching search likely goes on the backburner while the staff is away interviewing prospects and preparing for a very important draft.

Or maybe that is when the final details get ironed out with almost the entire league in one place.

The dominos have started to fall around the league. Or maybe they never were part of the Magic’s calculations or decisionmaking to begin with.

Perhaps Orlando has always operated on its own wavelength. No one has hired anyone the Magic have interviewed — or at least, confirmed to interview — outside of Fizdale. They still seem to have the pick of all their candidates.

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Meanwhile, everyone is waiting to see what the Magic will do.