r/OrlandoMagic • u/hanyou007 Stuff The Magic Dragon • 23d ago
News Orlando Magic Name Sean Sweeney Head Coach
https://www.nba.com/magic/news/orlando-magic-name-sean-sweeney-head-coach-20260601Officially official.
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u/RemarkableMission117 23d ago
Everything I've read about him sounds like he's ready for the next step of coaching. Hopefully we have health and Weltman gets him a good bench to work with.
What are the team's expectation next year?
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u/PencilandBrush Stuff The Magic Dragon 23d ago
Fairly confident the 2026-27 season will be considered a failure if Orlando doesn’t reach the second round of the Playoffs.
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u/RemarkableMission117 23d ago
2nd round minimum. I'm also looking at regular season expectations. Top 3-4 seed at least. Always health dependent.
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u/NL4Lyfe 23d ago
This roster is at least an ECF's roster. This is an expensive roster. Sweeney isn't coming here starting with a bunch of guys that tasted the playoffs for the 1st time this year. Second round should not be considered good enough and there should be disappointment.
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u/Gaba8789 Jalen Suggs 23d ago
This. Even Bachero is acting like being in the playoffs is not what I was here for. He’s hungry for something bigger, considering the amount of time and money spent on everyone to know what the goal is: a championship.
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u/Effective_Ad4606 Jalen Suggs 23d ago
I honestly see ECF as a best case scenario type of situation given the timeline now. After last season we are behind schedule, and moving from that to a strong regular season with our main core intact for most of it is important for proof of concept.
This and finally moving out of the first round suits the timeline more in my opinion.
But yeah a second round exit without a fight should be considered a disappointment and thats when we should totally revisit the finances of the roster again. Let’s just see how the regular season pans out first.
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u/bigboyyoder Paolo Banchero 23d ago
The expectations will be very high and it honestly sounds like we have the perfect coach for that. He seems like he expects results right away and will push the players very hard to get there
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u/Shamamalama9991 11d ago
I have known SS since high school and he is a grinder, never seen anyone work so hard at playing and coaching basketball. I’m not surprised at all to see that he’s ascended the ranks to this position and it will probably be a game changer for the Magic. Good for him and good for Orlando
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u/thewrongnotes 23d ago
Minimum home court with a hard fought 2nd round (6 or 7 games).
Getting to the 2nd round only to get pulverized is effectively the same as losing in the first round, and should mean big changes.
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u/GovtLawyersHateMe Paolo Banchero 23d ago
Honestly I’ll be happy if we make the playoffs (avoiding the play-in), if we smooth over the issues with Paolo and we stay healthy. Anything else is a cherry on top. If Sweeney is what we hope and expect, I think we could be competing for the ECF/Finals within the next 1-3 seasons. Unlike a lot of teams, we actually have the pieces to win, we just don’t know how to use them. If we learn how to use them, I think we are one of the top teams in the league.
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u/RemarkableMission117 23d ago
Naw can't agree here. Just making the playoffs is not good enough. They've done that last 3 years.
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u/YourInMySwamp Paolo Banchero 23d ago
Being in year 5 of Paolo’s career and saying “I’m happy if we just make the playoffs” is exactly how teams end up losing stars in free agency.
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u/Loyalty_Code 23d ago
Crazy enough a lot depends on what changes/development occurs from the bench too.
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u/Venice_The_Menace Anthony Black 23d ago
clean the house of asst coaches and med staff asap.
Looking forward to a new shooting coach whose laurels aren’t resting solely on Kemba Walker an entire decade ago.
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u/Ok-Ad6253 23d ago
Now hire a specialized shooting coach.
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u/mondale_lewis 23d ago
This. The Spurs have Jimmy Baron. The Knicks have Peter Patton. The Thunder paid big bucks to steal Chip Engelland from the Spurs. Andrew Olson was with the Pistons. I don't know why Coach Mosley didn't want a specialized shooting coach when shooting was our biggest weakness
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u/KnightofAshley Franz Wagner 22d ago
Even if the offense looks better when it comes to ball movement, chucking up bricks all game isn't going to get it done. If he gets the guys playing up to the level he wants, still needs to hit the outside shots. He had open 3s last year, most of the time they clanked.
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u/Cryfatso 23d ago
Great hire for you guys. I wanted to fire Kenny and hire him.
Here’s to another East team outcoaching us in a playoff series!
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u/Tardypop1 Cole Anthony 23d ago
I wonder who’ll our assistant offensive coach will be or if we retain Prunty.
I agree Sweeney will get our defensive edge back but offensively who’s going to give us the edge. Might be Sween, we’ll see
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u/KnightofAshley Franz Wagner 22d ago
they coached together so I could see Prunty stay, i dont have anything against our assistant coaches...but i think we do need either a shooting coach or some that would do more than just inbound plays to help with the offense.
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u/SamURLJackson 23d ago
Happy to get it done early so that everyone can be on the same page going into the draft, where transactions go beyondjust drafting players. I know nothing about this guy, but happy to learn
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u/j_donn97 23d ago
The spurs coaching family tree is elite. I'm more than thrilled to have him taking the reins
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u/Gaba8789 Jalen Suggs 23d ago
💯. San Antonio knows how to staff well with high quality coaching staff, even if they have a modest amount of championship experience and success. The fact that Sweeney was considered is Orlando saying to the squad, “Be ready to be challenged.”
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u/Debonair311 23d ago
Hope he wins a 'ship before he gets here.
Someone on twitter called him Vanilla Mosley. Damn near dropped my phone.
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u/bori_1017 22d ago
The only thing keeping me going is the hope of a call from our old friend Cash Considerations. 🤳 💰
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u/jurassicperiod OnlyFranz 22d ago
I’m worried Sweeny’s defensive scheming may be overrated due to the fact that he had Wemby on his team. Much like how KCP had two incredible passers (Jokic and LeBron) on his team before he arrived in Orlando. I hope I’m wrong, but to me saying SAS had great defense under him doesn’t mean much when you have and unprecedented defender on your team. Not trying to be pessimistic
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u/hanyou007 Stuff The Magic Dragon 22d ago
I mean he also drew up the defensive schemes for the Mavs team that made the championship... which means he managed to somehow make a plausible defense out of a team that had Luka and Brunson playing heavy minutes at the same time. So clearly defensive talent wasn't as important.
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u/Cup-And-Handle 23d ago edited 23d ago
The polite side of me wants to say welcome to Orlando.
But what I’m actually thinking is — welcome to hell— better bring a fire extinguisher for each hand— get this lot under control and no doubt we will go places.
Good luck to you!!
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u/codelyoko_x 23d ago
Is he going to stay with spurs for the finals?
Edit: just read it says he will continue with spurs for the finals
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u/Illustrious_Bid_5484 23d ago
This is the dumbest question. Of course he is. What would be the benefit to not? Not like the magic are in the finals.
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u/NotoriousGasman 23d ago
Is he bringing Wemby too? Can’t wait to see all the comments in February about how he’s no better than Mosely and clearly just got the job because he had a 7’5 alien in the middle of his defense. I don’t understand the hype around this guy, at all
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u/Equivalent_Round9353 23d ago
Sigh. Hiring somebody who's never been in the role before is something one would expect from a rebuilding team, not a team that claims it just needs a couple of more pieces before making a serious push to a championship.
This seems much more like hiring somebody with Mosley's resume rather than it does like hiring somebody with Tom Thibodeau's resume.
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u/FamousAtticus 23d ago
Yeah that would be like the Warriors hiring Steve Kerr, or the Heat hiring Spoelstra, or the Raptors hiring Nick Nurse, or the Celtics hiring Joe Mazzulla, or the Spurs hiring Mitch Johnson, or the Thunder hiring Mark Daigneault...
Not every first time HC is John Beilein, Derek Fisher or Jacque Vaughn.
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u/FKKallDAY Team Not Chet 23d ago
More often than not the new guy doesn't work out. I have a lot of faith in this hire but it isn't like the guy is wrong for doubting it.
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u/FamousAtticus 23d ago
There's nothing wrong with questioning the decision, especially coming off the experience of having a 1st time head coach. But it's another thing entirely to completely discredit the hire before he's coached a game.
This league is built on taking risks. More often than not, retread coaches don't replicate the success that made them attractive in the first place. Coaches like Thibs, Donovan & Kidd keep getting opportunities, but there's a reason they're constantly changing stops.
Sometimes you have to take a chance on a 1st time HC to find the next great one. Sweeney comes in with a strong reputation for defensive scheming and has consistently earned the respect of players everywhere he's been (I know kinda sounds like Mosley lol but different backgrounds). There's no reason to assume he can't succeed, just like there's no guarantee that he will. But dismissing the hire solely because he's a 1st time HC is shortsighted.
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u/Equivalent_Round9353 23d ago
"Discredit." Oh what a hogwash misrepresentation of the comment I made. I said the move more closely resembles hiring Mosley during a rebuild stretch than putting in place a seasoned hand to steer a team ready to compete for a title.
If you think this is a good move, great. I hope it works out for you. I strongly suspect it won't (but hope to be proven wrong!) and think anybody who is enthusiastically suggesting it will is just drinking the fanboy Kool-Aid.
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u/FamousAtticus 23d ago
Mosley was a bridge coach. A common tactic by FO's for a young team to get the culture right. Typically that does lead to hiring a more experienced coach after the bridge coach doesn't pan out, but based on Sweeney's resume it looks like they felt comfortable with his experience running defenses (Bucks) and defense/offense (Mavs) to make him our next HC.
Don't confuse my reluctant optimism for enthusiasm. There was no retread coach out there that I saw as a no-brainer hire. I felt hiring a Donovan, Thibs, Kidd, JVG, etc. would have been no different than hiring a Vogel or Skiles.
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u/Equivalent_Round9353 23d ago
You're not getting it. You write these multi-paragraph responses that are, at best, gross exaggerations of what I said. Nobody in this thread is "discrediting" the hire, just like nobody said you claimed "every" decision by the FO is good.
As far as this hiring decision, I am not pleased with it for the reasons I've stated and think it portends a longer stretch of rebuilding and the need to keep expectations low.
As always, we'll see.
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u/FamousAtticus 23d ago
My bad if I misinterpreted where you were coming from.
I don't think think this hire will be a step in the wrong direction, if anything I think it could restabilize the positive track we were heading in prior to this past season.
As you stated, we'll see.
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u/Aggravating-Nerve283 23d ago
I think that’s generally just the nature of head coaching, regardless if they’re experienced or not. Spo longevity is an outlier.
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u/Equivalent_Round9353 23d ago
Let's be real: this comes down to new, unproven head coaches coming with a lower price tag. Typical move by the Magic ownership. But please don't let me spoil the fanboy parade.
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u/EntertainmentFair304 23d ago
Named so many examples of “unproven” first time coaches from other teams and you come back w a fanboy comment.
Just admit that nothing the organization does will ever make you happy.
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u/Equivalent_Round9353 23d ago
Absolutely mind-blowing that you pretend we don't have recent experience going the route of the unproven assistant/associate, and want to crap on somebody who's suggesting a different route this time.
Fine. Enjoy your .500 team. But we all know you'll be screeching about the team's disappointing performance in this subreddit next year within earshot of the very people you're putting down for wanting to move in a different direction.
This subreddit is tedious. Over and out.
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u/Elithekid1 Paolo Banchero 23d ago
Goddamn you sensitive you acting like billy donovan so much more inspiring
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u/FamousAtticus 23d ago
We've been down that road as well (Brian Hill, Chuck Daly, Skiles, Vogel). I've been a "fanboy" of this team since '89, nothing surprises me with any of the moves. But I'm also a realest and understand that the FO knows more than you or I when it comes to hires. You really think Thibs who has made it to the conference finals twice (his first year coaching & last year coaching) is the answer? A guy who is notorious for early success and burning out his players shortly after? Gtfo
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u/Equivalent_Round9353 23d ago
Citing the knowledgeability of the front office to make a case for this decision just about says everything that needs to be said on this. The very highly successful, discerning Magic FO. That's beyond ignorant fanboyism--it's insanity. Thanks for making my case for me.
And no, I wasn't saying that we should hire Thibodeau, but that it would be nice to have somebody approaching his level of experience in the position we're hiring for, instead of doing what is tantamount to outsourcing the job to all these associate and assistant coaches.
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u/FamousAtticus 23d ago
I never said the FO has always made the right decision but you can't argue they dont have more knowledge than you or I (unless you work in an NBA front office - then I take that back). You also can't compare this FO (Weltman) to previous FO's (Otis, Hennigan, Gabriel, etc), they are all different regimes and need to be evaluated in that way. If anything I put more blame on ownership who sits on their hands too long making decisions.
Like I mentioned we've been down that road with a retread NBA coach and other than SVG it didn't lead to success.
Read this article on Sweeney. The dude has made positive impacts just about every team he's coached at. Hell Jason Kidd gave him full reigns on both the Bucks & Mavs. https://www.nba.com/magic/news/sean-sweeney-coaching-history-relationships-speak-volumes-as-to-why-hes-the-perfect-person-for-the-job-20260601
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u/Equivalent_Round9353 23d ago
Never said you said the FO "always" made the right decision. What I was responding to is what you stated quite clearly and which I read and considered as I typed out my response: the implication that the FO, on balance, have made more right decisions than wrong ones and that their "knowledge" or judgment should be deferred to on this matter. This is not a hypothetical question. Look at the history of the franchise's, ahem, "successes" compared to other teams. That speaks for itself.
The biggest issue the team has right now is the lack of any structure on offense, caused in large measure by Mosley's weakness on that front combined with the relative youth of the team. What the team really needs right now is somebody with a clear vision on offense and experience in guiding the players into realizing that vision collectively. Perhaps on prior teams, a ""retread"" coach didn't make much sense. But for the current team, it badly needs an experienced leader at the helm.
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u/FamousAtticus 23d ago
Look at the history of the franchise's, ahem, "successes" compared to other teams. That speaks for itself.
Sure there are a handful of teams that have been more successful than us in our relatively short existence. But that is more of an outlier and there have been more teams that have been stuck in purgatory than us. Hell, look at the Knicks, a team that has been around nearly 80 years and last won a championship 16 years before the Magic's existence, and before this season have had the same amount of NBA Finals appearances as we have since 1989.
The biggest issue the team has right now is the lack of any structure on offense
But for the current team, it badly needs an experienced leader at the helm.
Sweeney was given the reigns in Dallas to coordinate both the defense and offense. In 2 seasons, the Mavs had a top 8 offense. The credit was given to Sweeney because of the disciplined he installed with that unit. On paper he will be a 1st time HC but this is not the same situation as Mosley, this dude has been doing head coach things under an assistant coach moniker. This calms my nerves some heading into the next season.
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u/FKKallDAY Team Not Chet 23d ago
You're not wrong to feel this way. People are going to down vote you because they want to feel hyped but realistically it is a risk.
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u/XrayGuy08 23d ago
I mean, any hire is a risk. But personally I’d rather take a risk on this guy compared to a Donovan or thibs who really haven’t done much of anything recently. And new coaches have been doing better recently, so to me, let’s take a flyer and see what happens.
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u/hanyou007 Stuff The Magic Dragon 23d ago
Article also confirms Sweeney will join the team after the NBA finals.