The Orlando Magic have finished building out Sean Sweeney’s first coaching staff, and the team made the move official Monday morning.
The group around the new head coach includes Joe Prunty, Greg Buckner, Popeye Jones, Tom Bialaszewski, Riley Crean, Jon Harris, Ben Johnson, Jacqlyn Poss and Mfon Udofia as assistant coaches. D.J.
Bakker will work as assistant coach/director of player development, while Shannan Lum has been named assistant coach/director of coaching operations. President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced the hires.
The team also said Curtis Lewis has been added as head video coordinator and Nicholas Russo as manager of basketball strategy in the basketball operations department.
Per the team release, “The Orlando Magic have named Joe Prunty, Greg Buckner, Popeye Jones, Tom Bialaszewski (bee-uhl-SHEV-ski), Riley Crean, Jon Harris, Ben Johnson, Jacqlyn Poss and Mfon Udofia (moo-FON you-DOE-fee-uh) assistant coaches, while D.J. Bakker (baker) will serve as assistant coach/director of player development and Shannan Lum has been named assistant coach/director of coaching operations, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today.
Per team policy, terms of the deals are not disclosed. They will serve on the coaching staff under Sean Sweeney, who was named head coach of the Magic on June 1.
In addition, Curtis Lewis (head video coordinator) and Nicholas Russo (manager of basketball strategy) have also been added to the basketball operations department.”
Sweeney takes over after Jamahl Mosely was fired shortly after the season.
Orlando is coming off a year that left plenty of room for debate. The Magic were viewed as an Eastern Conference contender last offseason after signing Desmond Bane, but inconsistency followed them through the season. They still ended up in the No. 8 spot in the playoffs.
That set up a first-round matchup with the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons, and Orlando even grabbed a 3-1 lead. But Franz Wagner’s injury changed everything, and the Pistons stormed back to win the final three games and take the series.
Since the season ended, the Magic have been quiet in free agency aside from a few smaller moves. They were also in the mix for Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmp before he ultimately ended up with the Miami Heat.
Now the franchise is left to settle on its next direction.
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For Vucevic, the fit appears to be as much about role as reputation. He has been open about being willing to come off the bench and accept fewer minutes, while also pointing to Orlandos chance to move beyond the first round as a reason the move made sense. The bigger question now is how much his presence changes the ceiling for a team that has spent the past few seasons trying to turn promise into a deeper spring run. [Read more 🡒]