The Orlando Magic have started their offseason plan early, poaching San Antonio’s assistant coach, Sean Sweeney, while the Spurs are set for a Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals.
On Friday, NBA insider Shams Charania broke the news to fans on X and Instagram. According to the insider, the Magic are finalizing a deal to hire Sweeney as their head coach. The Spurs assistant coach broke into the coaching scene in 2011 and has worked with elite coaches at the Dallas Mavericks, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Detroit Pistons and the Brooklyn Nets.
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Magic’s big move left fans stunned as they swarmed the post’s comments section with their opinions.
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“Poached mid conference finals is insane lmao,” one fan said.
“Magic poaching coaches right before Game 7 is crazy work 😭,” another fan said.
“Spurs shouldn’t let their coaches take offers like this while they are fighting for a finals spot,” another fan commented.
Here are more reactions:
“He knows the script, I guess,” one fan commented.
“Man, season ain’t even done yet for them,” another fan commented.
“I’m sorry, is it wrong to think he shouldn’t have even gave of second of his time to this until the Spurs season is over? Not even a Spurs fan but winning the championship should be all he thinks about these few weeks,” another fan said.
According to Charania, Sweeney was responsible for running the Spurs defense under Mitch Johnson.
Is Sean Sweeney a good choice for the Orlando Magic?
The Orlando Magic fired Jamahl Mosley on May 4, after trusting the coach for five seasons. In those five seasons, Orlando has made the playoffs three times. However, they failed to move past the first round every single time in the last five seasons.
Sweeney gets a chance to prove his talent at Mosley’s expense after the former coach took the Pistons, one of the best teams in the East, to seven games. The new coach, who specializes in defense, will have a squad that was one of the best defensive teams in the East.
The Magic have stars like Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane, and the Spurs assistant coach’s experience in working with star talents like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama will aid him in managing egos in the locker room.
According to Shams Charania, Sweeney had interviewed for several head coaching gigs in recent years and was a finalist for the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets and Phoenix Suns.
Sweeney’s effectiveness at the Orlando job will be up for judgment for at least a few seasons. Fans can expect the franchise to put their faith in the new coach for at least the same time Mosley had stayed. However, his first season would answer a lot of questions.
Edited by Avi Shravan