The biggest rumor in the NBA offseason is still lingering.
Everyone is waiting for the Milwaukee Bucks to find a proper suitor for Giannis Antetokounmpo. It seems inevitable that the former MVP will move on. And it is not crazy to say that every team at least has to consider making a bid.
The Orlando Magic have been a team on the periphery of those trade discussions.
Pundits and trade machine operators have toyed with the idea of the Magic sending the young Paolo Banchero to the Bucks. It seems like it would be among the best hauls the Bucks could get. It has been more a statement of the world's dissatisfaction with Banchero's play than the reality of finding a deal.
As it became clearer that the Orlando Magic were set to hire San Antonio Spurs associate head coach, and former Milwaukee Bucks assistant, Sean Sweeney, the rumors connecting the Magic to Antetokounmpo has only grown.
Ramona Shelburne was on The Rich Eisen Show on Friday and said the Orlando Magic are a team to look at in the Antetokounmpo discussions. With Sweeney's close connection to Antetokounmpo, those rumors started to race even faster throughout Friday afternoon.
It always seemed like professional dot-connecting and pure idle trade machine tinkering.
The Magic certainly were not hiring a coach with Antetokounmpo -- and his small window remaining in his prime -- in mind. They were going to hire a coach who believed in what he could build with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner as a core.
It seems everyone is taking the wrong lessons or signals from the Magic hiring Sweeney.
They did not hire Sweeney to chase after Antetokounmpo. They chased Sweeney so he could do for their young players what he did for Antetokounmpo at that critical stage.
Everyone has the purpose of this hire and what it means for the Magic's future all wrong.
Sweeney's relationship with Antetokounmpo
It is fair for everyone to try to connect some dots and believe Sean Sweeney will lean on established relationships to build his team. We will certainly go through the list of assistant coaches he has worked with in his 13 years as an assistant to try to figure out who would make up his ideal staff.
The dot connecting to Giannis Antetokounmpo is a fair one to make.
Antetokounmpo has credited Sweeney with helping him improve dramatically in his early years in the league. He credited him with giving him his killer instinct. Antetkounmpo told James Edwards of The Athletic in 2018 that their relationship is about more than basketball.
In his four years with the Bucks, Antetokounmpo grew from a raw second-year player to a perennial All-Star. Antetokounmpo is unquestionably one of the best players. Sweeney is a big part of that success.
It would be crazy for the Magic not to consider making a trade and exploring it. Even if the arguments are stronger for the Magic to stand pat and believe in the growth of their young players.
Especially with how they played together during the Playoffs.
The Sweeney-Antetokounmpo relationship exists. And it is leading to some wild speculation, for better or worse.
The Magic want Sweeney to deliver Giannis-level growth
While everyone is trying to make the connection to Giannis Antetokounmpo into the literal acquisition of Antetokounmpo this summer, that is not quite the lesson the Orlando Magic are likely going for.
While Orlando is a readymade team and a perennial playoff team trying to break into contention, they are still incredibly young.
Both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are younger than 25 years old. There is a solid foundation to compete now and continue to grow.
The Magic wanted a coach to deliver them deeper into the playoffs. But they also want one who could continue to develop and grow their players while raising that standard. Another reason why the Magic are not about to rush into an Antetokounmpo trade.
Hiring Sean Sweeney does not say they want to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo. They want Sweeney to do for Banchero and Wagner what he did for Antetokounmpo.
Sweeney has not only helped Antetkounmpo. He has a track record of bringing the best out elite players.
The Detroit Pistons beat writer at the time wrote the Athletic article linked above. It discussed how Sean Sweeney quickly earned the respect of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond.
Griffin was an uber-athletic but often-injured All-Star, averaging 21.4 points per game and trying to learn to play with a more limited body before arriving in Detroit. He turned in his most complete season in 2019, his first year with Sweeney. He averaged a career-high 24.5 points per game and shot 36.2 percent on a career-high 7.0 3-point attempts per game in his lone All-Star season outside of LA.
If not for injuries, that evolution likely would have continued.
In his stop in Dallas, Luka Doncic continued his ascendance into superstardom with Sean Sweeney as one of his key coaches. Sweeney joined the Slovenia national team as an assistant coach in 2024 (he also coached for Greece while with the Bucks and Antetokounmpo).
Victor Wembanyama credited Sean Sweeney completely for the team's defensive leap. Wembanyama feels like the favorite to win MVP next year -- not to mention being a game away from his first NBA Finals in just his third season.
The Magic did not hire Sweeney as some key to unlock an Antetokounmpo trade. They hired Sweeney because they clearly believe Sweeney can unlock the Giannis level in Banchero and Wagner, let alone the entire team.
Trade discussions and rumors are the lifeblood of NBA coverage. It is easy to see all the connections within the Magic organization and Antetokounmpo. It is certainly easy to hit the panic button after the Magic fell well short of expectations this season.
But that has never been how Jeff Weltman operates. Hiring Sweeney is a move that doubles down on many of the team's principles.
Chief among them is the belief in internal development. And the Magic are more likely to clearly see Sweeney and his experience with Antetokounmpo as a way to unlock superstardom in the players they already have.
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