Orlando Magic Coaching Search Power Rankings: Find your purpose

The Orlando Magic’s coaching search appears to have entered its next phase.

Josh Robbins of The Athletic reported the Orlando Magic had a second interview with Denver Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr. and they may have also sat down with Dallas Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley a second time.

That certainly indicates the team has winnowed down its list somewhat. Once a decision is made, the team will likely have that final choice meet with the DeVos family for final approval. That is typically how the team has operated with previous coaching hires.

It does sound like things are imminent and these may well be the last coaching search power rankings — do not worry, we may have more power rankings ideas to come.

This moment though provides a chance to assess and reflect on what the team’s goals ultimately are.

The Orlando Magic appear to be closing in on their next coach as their identity and their purpose become clearer.

The coaches described above certainly point to a desired identity for the team. The Magic want their team to be strong defensively. And while there is a desire and a need to add to the team’s offense, this is still the team’s backbone in many ways.

Memphis coach and Magic legend Anfernee Hardaway pulled out of the coaching search after reportedly impressing in his interview. It was not the time to hire the college coach quite yet.

Former coach Steve Clifford too provided some clue into what the Magic are looking for in his first public comments to Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel. Clifford confirmed the issue was about the alignment of the team and the direction they were headed with such a young roster and a reliance on draft picks to rebuild the team.

Steve Clifford said he had no ill will toward Jeff Weltman and praised his working relationship with the Magic’s front office. Rebuilds are just hard. And the team seems prepared to take on a few losing seasons. The Magic gave Clifford an exit off the bus, it seems.

That all sets up what the Magic are ultimately looking for though.

They want a coach who can develop young players and have the patience to work with them through their mistakes. They want a coach though that will still hold them defensively accountable — perhaps even using defense as a stand-in for commitment and work ethic.

With that in mind then, the Magic’s coaching search has indeed narrowed. And it should be reflected with the candidates the team is hunting at this point.

Usually, whenever anyone mentions anything from the Jacque Vaughn era of Orlando Magic basketball, everyone shudders. There was a lot of wasted talent and opportunity that emerged from those three seasons. And Vaughn was unceremoniously dumped in the end.

So if there is a detraction to Wes Unseld Jr.’s candidacy as head coach, it is that he was an assistant coach under Jacque Vaughn in Orlando.

But much like how Vaughn has clearly become a better coach since then, Unseld deserves the same benefit of the doubt. Especially considering the coaches he has worked with in his past and the work he has done under Mike Malone in Denver with the Denver Nuggets.

Before joining the Orlando Magic in 2012, Unseld Jr. worked with the Washington Wizards for Eddie Jordan and Flip Saunders. He was given at least some credit to helping the Wizards with Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler carve out one of the top offenses in the league. He joined Mark Jackson’s staff with the Golden State Warriors in 2011 before arriving in Orlando.

Since leaving Orlando, he has worked with Mike Malone (who was a member of Mark Jackson’s staff in Golden State) and the Denver Nuggets. There he has been credited with helping build their defense which has climbed above the league average in his time there, tracking with the team’s climb in the standings.

That is a pretty strong pedigree that certainly goes beyond the time he had with Vaughn and the Magic. And it makes him one of the more coveted young coaches around the league. He has experience and success clearly under his belt.

Why were the Orlando Magic chasing after Anfernee Hardaway? It was not merely about nostalgia. And that would not have been a reason to do so either.

Rather, it was the relationships Hardaway has clearly forged with young players. He is someone who relates well to young players and has gotten a lot out of them — even if there is more everyone wants to see from his Memphis teams on the court.

That is something the team absolutely will need as they go through this rebuild. Being a head coach is also being a part-time psychologist. And dealing with young players is so different than dealing with veterans. Although doing both is a skill the elite coaches need.

That is why Jamahl Mosley is getting buzz as a future head coach and why he may be the right guy for the Magic.

His relationship with Luka Doncic was supposedly so strong that it was causing some tension within the team. But watching any videos of him working with Doncic shows just how hands-on his work can be.

But Mosley is also a solid defensive coach, taking over as the Mavericks’ defensive coordinator in 2018. While the Mavericks are not the strongest defensive team, a lot of that has to do with personnel more than anything else.

That relationship factor is the biggest thing though. And Mosley seems to have that as a strength.

With the LA Clippers eliminated from the playoffs, everyone believed it opened up Kenny Atkinson fully to the coaching search. He was more heavily involved in game planning it appeared and so he was not able to tear himself away in the same way that Chauncey Billups was.

The appeal of Atkinson is quite simple: He has accomplished the goal the Magic are chasing this year with this developing team. He took a talent-depleted Brooklyn Nets team from the bottom of the standings into a playoff team, unearthing quality players along the way and carving out a clear identity.

The Magic reportedly had an interest in bringing in Atkinson for an interview. And it felt like the team was waiting for him. But there has been no reporting confirming Atkinson has been brought in for an interview and his status in the coaching search is still extremely uncertain.

But Atkinson still needs to be on the list for now. And he should still be pretty high on it.

This was a frustrating week for fans of Becky Hammon and her pursuit of becoming the first woman to be the head coach of an NBA team.

The Portland Trail Blazers controversially hired Chauncey Billups while brushing aside concerns about his past sexual assault allegations. And then an anonymous report came out suggesting Hammon was not so easy to work with on a daily basis.

There has to be some reason no one has taken the chance on Hammon. But, at the same time, there are plenty of concerns that this is all just coded language and cover to keep a generally progressive league from taking this huge step forward.

The Magic reportedly interviewed Hammon. But it is not clear how far in the process she got. and it is not clear if it makes sense for Hammon to take the chance and absorb a ton of losses. It feels like she should be seeking a job that is set up for more immediate success.

It all seems to point toward Hammon returning to the San Antonio Spurs at the moment. Unfortunately, that glass ceiling is not yet broken.

The Milwaukee Bucks are heading to the NBA Finals. A long journey for that franchise and for Giannis Antetokounmpo has culminated with this opportunity to win the whole championship.

For Mike Budenholzer’s staff too, it has been quite a journey. The team helped guide the Atlanta Hawks to their first Eastern Conference Finals only to fall short with their egalitarian system. Like Steve Clifford, Mike Budenholzer did not go for a full-scale rebuild the Hawks wanted and left for the Bucks.

Even there, there were a lot of issues to sort through. The Bucks had doubts at every stage from losing to the Miami Heat in the second round last year in the bubble to barely escaping the Brooklyn Nets to get to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Say whatever you want about some of Budenholzer’s coaching decisions in the playoffs, he has built an impressive resume. And it is no wonder that teams are beginning to poach from his staff.

Darvin Ham and Charles Lee have gotten the most buzz from this cycle. Both reportedly interviewed with the Magic. Ham reportedly met with the Washington Wizards and Lee has gotten consideration from the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Bucks and Hawks had both strong offenses and defenses under Budenholzer in the regular season. It would be hard to completely ignore that and their contributions to helping grow a young team.

One of the unsurprising revelations of the coaching cycle was that the Orlando Magic interviewed a few of their own coaches on the staff. Even Steve Clifford seemed to make it clear there was no poor working relationship with the front office as they shifted direction this season.

If continuity is something the Magic value in young player development, they have to at least consider their assistant staff.

Tyrone Corbin stands out above the rest for now. He took over for Clifford for a few weeks after Clifford’s positive COVID test in April. And he did well with that time, going 3-3 in those six games.

The Magic reportedly were putting a premium on experience too. And Corbin is the only assistant coach with experience in the lead chair — even if he struggled in his short stint with Utah Jazz and his short interim stint with the Sacramento Kings.

Stability has value for young players — this will be Jonathan Isaac’s third coach in five seasons with the Magic — and so Corbin at least needs some consideration.

But if the Magic were going to go for a coach already on their staff, he probably would have been hired already. The search would not need to continue.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ assistant coaches in Darvin Ham and Charles Lee have gotten plenty of buzz for head coaching jobs, but curiously no one from the Phoenix Suns has gotten serious buzz. Willie Green has interviewed for a few spots — including reportedly the Orlando Magic’s job — but it does not seem like it is happening quite yet for him.

A lot of that probably has to do with his lack of experience. Although it is still quite extensive.

Green has coached for the Golden State Warriors under Steve Kerr from 2016-19 before joining Monty Williams’ staff with the Phoenix Suns. That is hanging around a lot of winning basketball. That has to count for something.

Green’s time is coming, especially if the Suns continue to find success. He was already building a reputation as a potential head coach as a player — including his final season with the Magic when he sat with Jacque Vaughn and his coaching staff when he was not playing.

It might be easy to overlook the Orlando Magic’s staff of assistants in this search. Tyrone Corbin, as noted earlier, is the only one with NBA head coaching experience. But Steve Clifford put together a solid player development staff with coaches who have intentions of being head coaches one day.

Say whatever you want to about the team’s record under Clifford in both Orlando and Charlotte, but he always got the most out of his teams as limited as they might have been.

Delany interviewed for the New York Knicks job last summer. But before joining Clifford’s staff, Delany coached the Sioux Falls SkyForce, one of the best franchises in the G-League with their association with the Miami Heat.

Hetzel was the head coach of the Canton Charge in the G-League before he joined Clifford’s staff.

These are coaches who have ample experience working with young players and helping them improve. The proof is still with the Magic and how they still got better even with the limitations of their roster.