A league source tells Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) that the Magic are “very interested” in hiring Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney to fill their head coaching vacancy. Orlando officials were planning a trip to San Antonio this week to interview Sweeney during the Western Conference finals, according to the authors.
Sweeney, who’s in his first season with the Spurs, is considered the architect of the team’s aggressive defense that has helped to fuel this year’s playoff run. The Magic were perennially among the league’s best defensive teams under Jamahl Mosley, so the infrastructure is already in place for Sweeney to succeed.
Former Bulls head coach Billy Donovan and current Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy are the only candidates reported to have interviewed for the Magic opening since Mosley was fired May 4. Sweeney has also been linked to the head coaching vacancies in Chicago and Dallas.
Fischer and Stein share more inside information from around the league:
- Cavaliers general manager Mike Gansey and Phoenix Mercury GM Nick U’Ren recently had interviews in Philadelphia to become the Sixers‘ head of basketball operations. Sources tell Fischer and Stein that Gansey and Sixers assistant GM Jameer Nelson are considered the leading candidates for the position.
- An extension for Hawks head coach Quin Snyder has been considered “inevitable” since the team’s playoff run ended, according to Fischer and Stein. They cite regular season rumors that Snyder could have been a potential candidate to replace Kenny Atkinson in Cleveland, but sources tell them that Atkinson was always expected to remain with the Cavaliers for a third season.
- Fischer and Stein’s sources also say the Cavaliers are optimistic about re-signing James Harden to a multiyear deal with a lower annual salary than the $39.4MM he made this season. “Rough early estimates” are in the range of $30MM per year, which could help the team escape the second apron.
- The Bulls are closer than the Mavericks to completing their head coaching search, but they’re still talking to several prospects, according to Fischer and Stein. Known candidates so far include Minnesota’s Micah Nori, Miami’s Chris Quinn, Cleveland’s Johnnie Bryant, Oklahoma City’s Dave Bliss and former New Orleans interim coach James Borrego. Nori is also a finalist for the Trail Blazers‘ opening, along with Van Gundy, Boston’s Tyler Lashbrook, Utah’s Mike Williams and acting head coach Tiago Splitter.
Sounds like either the Bulls decided Sweeney wasn’t for them or that there wasn’t much chance of him going there. Maybe they jut decided to go another direction. Be interested to know what the thought process was there.
Probably the latter, although I’m sure the Bulls’ situation is enticing, going to the Magic gives you a better chance at immediate success, and thus a better second contract in a couple of years.
Nate McMillan had a much better record than Quin does. His teams also did much better in the playoffs. Quin has had better talent to coach as well. How is Quin getting an extension while Nate was fired?
You could plug Mike Woodson & Larry Drew’s names in for Nate as well.
Nate was the fall guy…
They couldn’t bare to admit it was Trae yet…
Doesn’t even come close to addressing my question. Nate had more success than Quin did in any way you wanna measure success. They both coached Trae Young. Nate was way more successful with Trae even though Quin had arguably more talent around Trae when he coached him. Nate did better & was fired, Quin is being rewarded for doing worse. Why is this the case?
Take a step back…
The basketball world saw Trae’s value crater before Nate was fired…
It is easier to fire a coach than move a cancer contract… A max deal given to a fringe all star…
And whilst the rest of the basketball world knew Trae wasn’t the number 1 option that the Hawks were paying him to be… The Hawks spent a few years deluding themselves otherwise and wanting to contend…
Quin gets the following disclaimers from ownership…
Quin has yet to have a full season without Trae…
The Hawks see Trae as the problem…
They are rebooting without Trae and most likely have a few more moves planned… So contending is not the expectation…
Therefore Quin gets patience that Nate didn’t…
When did the basketball world see Trae Young’s value crater in Nate’s tenure? He was 1 of the best pgs in the league when Nate was here & he was arguably even better with Quin. Nate won with Trae & Quin did not. Then even after Trae is gone we still fail to win a playoff series.
Lol you say Trae could never be a #1 option but Nate won with Trae as a #1 option. Quin had teams with Trae & a team without Trae. Zero playoff Ws. I remember people swore Joe Johnson couldnt be a #1 option. Woodson & Drew won numerous series with him as the #1 option. They got fired for leading us to the same type of embarassing playoff losses that Quin just led us to.
Serious question…
What ring did Nate win with Trae?
Nate didn’t get the team that believed in Trae over the line…
Quin was never expected to win once the Hawks realised what the rest of the league knew… They had to trade Trae to have a shot at winning the only win that matters…
I feel like every offseason now teams are reportedly interested in hiring James Borrego and don’t. What’s that about?
@Beezy
Probably because there are better people out there that coach better than him. He may get another chance again but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s been unable to land a multi year deal with any new teams lately. He’s just not that good
Borrego to Bulls 💪
@uncle1sock umm..no
Borrego is not a good coach.