The Magic’s announcement of Scott Skiles as their new coach late Friday afternoon didn’t linger for long atop the headlines, as the Pelicans followed with their hiring of Alvin Gentry the next day and rumors mounted about the Bulls and their seemingly inevitable partnership with Fred Hoiberg. Orlando made a nonetheless significant move, and we’ll pass along some of the ripples still emanating from it here:
- GM Rob Hennigan didn’t directly answer a question from Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel about whether Tom Thibodeau was ever a factor in Orlando’s coaching search, but Thibs wasn’t among those the team interviewed, as the Sentinel’s Josh Robbins reported earlier. The Magic didn’t land a marquee name, but they ended up with a coach who’s well-respected among his peers, including Pistons boss and former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, and who’ll lend the team a tenacious personality, Bianchi writes.
- Skiles was confident that he’d get another NBA head coaching job after his third such stint ended when the Bucks fired him midway through the 2012/13 season, as he tells TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. The former Suns, Bulls and Bucks coach indicated that he spoke with NBA teams that showed interest in him during each of the two offseasons that passed between the end of his time in Milwaukee and Friday’s hiring in Orlando.
- He doesn’t have a reputation as a player’s coach, but Elfrid Payton and Maurice Harkless told Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders for his NBA AM piece that they’re on board with the hire, and Harkless, about to enter the final season of his rookie scale contract, was particularly effusive.