There were only a few wild cards left.<\/p>\n
The first one was the Mavericks’ job suddenly becoming open, putting another high-profile prospect on the board to compete with the Magic as the top job.<\/p>\n
The last hurdle, though, is cleared. The last two teams that could have made coaching changes appear set. The runway is now cleared for the Magic to finalize their choice and for their candidate to make his decision.<\/p>\n
The end of the Eastern Conference Finals closed that door. The New York Knicks will not panic fire Mike Brown after making the NBA Finals, closing down one of the more high-profile jobs in the league.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported the Cleveland Cavaliers will not part with Kenny Atkinson<\/a> after their blowout sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals, the franchise’s first without LeBron James since the early 1990s.<\/p>\n Just in on NBA Today — Kenny Atkinson is returning as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for a third season: pic.twitter.com\/biuCyXxBNj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n All this means is that if any of the top candidates were holding out hope to take over a ready-made conference finalist, those doors are closed. Looking at the available jobs, the Magic are the only playoff team available.<\/p>\n That should be an advantage for the Magic to make any final arguments if there is indeed competition.<\/p>\n It may seem that is a bad place to be — with a coach waiting and hoping for another job to open. But that is also the reality.<\/p>\n Or maybe it means nothing. The Magic have been going quietly through their process. And now it seems the last hurdle is cleared to get to the end.<\/p>\n Nothing has been unusual in the Magic’s coaching search including how long it has taken.<\/p>\n How long does it take to hire a coach?<\/p>\n Fans are certainly frustrated that the Orlando Magic have not named a new head coach yet.<\/p>\n The job has been open for three weeks. As is usual with how Jeff Weltman operates, the team has not leaked very much in terms of who has been interviewed or the candidates the team is looking for.<\/p>\n Judging by what has leaked out, this has been a very focused and narrow coaching search<\/a>. The Magic know they have a desirable job and can have their pick of available candidates. It is just about picking and interviewing the right ones.<\/p>\n By all accounts, the job has been narrowed to three likely candidates — longtime favorite and former Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan, LA Clippers assistant and longtime NBA coach (a long time ago) Jeff Van Gundy<\/a> and San Antonio Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney.<\/p>\n Orlando has surely interviewed other candidates and done a deeper dive. But those are the names that have trickled out to the media. They seem like the the three that are most likely to get the job.<\/p>\n And the last thing the Orlando Magic might be waiting for is the San Antonio Spurs’ elimination from the playoffs to get a second interview with Sweeney or finalize things.<\/p>\n This process is not taking any longer or shorter than normal.<\/p>\n Jeff Weltman hired Steve Clifford on May 30, 2018. That was 48 days after the team fired Frank Vogel. He hired Jamahl Mosley on July 11, 2021, 56 days after the team’s 2021 season ended.<\/p>\n It has been only 23 days since the Magic fired Mosley. Hiring a coach in the next week would be light speed by comparison.<\/p>\n But it should be clear that a hire is coming soon. The gap between the conference finals — which could end as soon as Thursday with Game 6 in San Antonio or Game 7 on Sunday — and the NBA Finals — which begin Wednesday, June 3.<\/p>\n It feels like the timing has begun to align for the Magic to finalize their coaching search. And likely the other jobs — the Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and Chicago Bulls — are waiting for the Orlando Magic domino to fall. The Blazers and Bulls are not likely competing for the same coaches — although Van Gundy reportedly interviewed in Portland too.<\/p>\n But the biggest thing that is clear is that all anyone can do is wait for this process to play out and be complete.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
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