On Wednesday’s Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said there has been a lot of chatter around the NBA that Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley and forward Paolo Banchero “might not be seeing eye-to-eye,” according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel.
Beede asked both Mosley and Banchero about MacMahon’s remarks.
“I don’t really have reactions to that,” Mosley said prior to Wednesday’s game. “That’s outside opinion which is the case and everybody’s fair to have their opinion on that. What me and Paolo have is a constant level of competitiveness that wants to find a way to get a win. No one’s happy when you’re on a losing streak. And there shouldn’t be happiness on a losing streak.
“So, I don’t give too much to those versus what’s going on in our locker room as our guys have that edge that wants to find a way to get a win.”
While Mosley didn’t exactly address the rumor, Beede writes that Banchero denied it pretty strongly after Wednesday’s victory, which snapped a four-game losing streak.
“We have a lot of open communication,” Banchero said about his relationship with Mosley. “Whatever those reports are, I wouldn’t say those are true, in my opinion. One thing I know about myself and one thing that I know about him is that we’re both fierce competitors. So, when you’re losing a lot of games and stuff’s not going well, people are upset. Me and him haven’t had any blowups or arguments, going back and forth. Me and him are pretty aligned with when we talk to each other trying to figure stuff out.
“Now that’s not saying when we lose four or five in a row that I’m not pissed off, he’s not pissed off,” Banchero added. “But in terms of our relationship, it’s been good since I’ve gotten here. Obviously as a team we need to keep improving and I’ve been vocal about that. He understands that, we all understand that. I don’t think anything that I’ve said or he’s said isn’t already known in terms of the team and the organization. So, those reports, I don’t know where that’s coming from. … So, it is what it is, but I think winning cures all. The more we win, the more quiet those reports will get.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Magic big man Jonathan Isaac has been a healthy scratch three times this month and was averaging a career-low 10.1 minutes per game entering Friday (he played 13 minutes in the win over Toronto). He said he’s not frustrated by his lack of playing time, Beede writes for The Orlando Sentinel. “I know that they’re trying to figure things out [and] Coach is trying to figure out what works, what doesn’t work,” Isaac said Wednesday. “So I just try to be myself every time I get in there. My job is to work really hard, try to make it easier on the players around me and be a disruptor on defense. Anytime he puts me in the game, that’s what I’m going to give.”
- If the Heat are unable to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, they should pivot to selling off assets to avoid the “hamster wheel of mediocrity” they’ve been stuck on the past couple seasons, argues Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
- In a feature story for ESPN.com, Ramona Shelburne says the Wizards are hoping Trae Young can help unlock the potential of second-year center Alex Sarr. “You see a lot of the potential that he has in his game,” Young said. “He’s very smart, especially on the defensive end. Being smart and athletic and that type of size is very uncommon in the league. He was the No. 2 pick for a reason — he’s got a lot of talent and potential and I want to be part of the process to kind of bring it out.”