Everyone who follows the Orlando Magic know how quietly the team works.
Nothing leaks from that front office when they do their searches or hunt for free agents. Everyone just sits and waits for the decision to be made.
Jeff Weltman is not going any slower or faster than his previous two coaching searches. He hired Steve Clifford around Memorial Day in 2018 and waited nearly two months after his team's season ended to hire Jamahl Mosley.
Still, there is a lot of pressure to get this hire right. The Magic feel they are on the cusp of contention. The team moved on from Mosley to find that thing that can get them over the top.
The going thought is that the Magic would value experience over everything else, trying to parlay someone who had been deeper into the playoffs as a head coach to give this young team a level of seriousness and experience it lacks on the floor.
The Magic's relatively narrow search -- or at least reportedly narrow search -- would suggest the team led a hyper-focused search. They knew what they wanted and honed in on that quickly.
Still, there are going to be surprises. And it seems the Magic are moving closer and closer to going against the type everyone thought they would pursue. They appear to be going for an up-and-comer over the experienced candidates they have pursued.
Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line report that their sources are conveying with "increasing volume" that the Orlando Magic's interest in San Antonio Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney is "more serious than previously known."
They report that the Magic either plan to or have already traveled to San Antonio to interview Sweeney in person, while his team plays in the Western Conference Finals.
Sweeney is widely considered to be set to become a head coach one way or the other in this hiring cycle. Everyone is holding their breath for his decision, which he is likely waiting until the break before the NBA Finals to finalize or announce his decision.
Things should move quickly after Saturday's Game 7.
But it makes sense. If the Magic had Billy Donovan or Jeff Van Gundy, the two other reported candidates the Magic have interviewed for their opening, they could hire them at any time. It seems everything has been waiting for Sweeney.
And the longer this goes, the more likely it seems that Sweeney is the pick. All the signs are pointing in that direction.
A surprising favorite
The Orlando Magic's pursuit of Sean Sweeney is a bit of a surprise.
He is a relatively young coach with no head coaching experience. He has coached for many different teams as an assistant. He is in his first year as the lead assistant with the San Antonio Spurs.
Sweeney has been in the league for 13 seasons, starting as an assistant coach with Jason Kidd in 2014. He has been with Kidd in Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Dallas for nine of those 13 seasons. He spent three seasons working with Dwane Casey and the Detroit Pistons and then this year as the associate coach for the San Antonio Spurs
More than that, he is a defensive architect.
Even accounting for Victor Wembanyama's presence, the Spurs' defense is quite impressive. He has maximized one of the most unique players in the league's history. And San Antonio has been equally good at defending the perimeter and making Shai Gilgeous-Alexander uncomfortable.
Their Western Conference Finals has included holding the Thunder to 82 points in Game 4 and a 27-point victory in Game 6, the largest margin of victory in the series. The Spurs as a team deserve their credit.
Wembanyama certainly credits Sweeney for the team's defensive acumen.
There is no telling what his offensive philosophy is or could be. He feels in many ways like a copy of the Jamahl Mosley hire, who spent a long time as the defensive architect and development coach under Rick Carlisle with the Mavericks.
While the Magic are desperate for offense and desperate to improve and get new ideas. The team is not hiding from the fact that it will always be a defense-first team. It is no surprise that the team has focused on defensive-minded coaches in its search.
The hurdle Sweeney likely had to overcome in interviews is proof that he has a plan for being a head coach and a plan for his offense. He does not have a track record to fall back on. It does take a leap of faith.
That is a leap of faith that conventional wisdom believed the Magic were not willing to take. But that is what the interview and background research are for.
That search now seems to be centered on Sweeney.
It does appear the Magic's coaching search is in stasis, waiting for Saturday's game and the conclusion of this Thunder-Spurs series. Orlando may be near the end of its search.
And all indications are clearly pointing that Sweeney will be the Magic's next coach.
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