Magic To Hire Sean Sweeney As Head Coach
The Magic are finalizing a deal with top Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney and will hire him as their head coach, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). He’ll receive a four-year deal, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line had reported earlier today that Orlando was “very interested” in Sweeney, who was connected to multiple teams with head coaching vacancies this offseason. The Magic had also been considering Jeff Van Gundy and Billy Donovan, who were the club’s other finalists, per Charania (Twitter link).
Sweeney, who joined the Nets as a video coordinator in 2011, was promoted to an assistant coaching role in Brooklyn in 2013, then followed Jason Kidd to Milwaukee, working as a Bucks assistant from 2014-18. Following a three-year stint as a Pistons assistant from 2018-21, Sweeney reunited with Kidd in Dallas, serving as an assistant for the Mavericks from 2021-25.
A year ago, Sweeney left Dallas to become the lead assistant under Mitch Johnson in San Antonio. He earned the title of associate head coach with the Spurs and was responsible for running the team’s defense, which improved from 25th in defensive rating in 2024/25 to third in ’25/26.
After they parted ways with former head coach Jamahl Mosley, there was a sense that the Magic might be seeking a veteran head coach with prior experience, since they were seeking a candidate who could help the team make a deeper playoff run following three consecutive first-round exits. However, the Magic will opt for another first-time head coach, as Sweeney “blew away” the team during the interview process, as Charania writes in a full story.
According to Charania and Stein (Twitter link), Magic officials flew to San Antonio during the Western Conference finals to meet with Sweeney. The plan is for the veteran assistant to finish out the remainder of the postseason with the Spurs before joining the Magic. That could happen within the next few days if the Spurs are unable to beat the Thunder in Game 7 on Saturday.
The Bulls had interest in Sweeney, who was also said to be in the mix for the Pelicans’ head coaching job before New Orleans hired Mosley. Additionally, there was a belief that the Mavericks might seek a reunion with their former assistant, though there hasn’t been much chatter about that job, so it’s unclear if Dallas ever really pursued him.
With Sweeney headed to Orlando, three head coaching searches are now complete, as the Magic join the Pelicans (Mosley) and Bucks (Taylor Jenkins) in hiring new coaches. The Bulls, Mavericks, and Trail Blazers still have openings.
Fischer/Stein’s Latest: Sweeney, Sixers, Snyder, Harden, Bulls
A league source tells Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) that the Magic are “very interested” in hiring Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney to fill their head coaching vacancy. Orlando officials were planning a trip to San Antonio this week to interview Sweeney during the Western Conference finals, according to the authors.
Sweeney, who’s in his first season with the Spurs, is considered the architect of the team’s aggressive defense that has helped to fuel this year’s playoff run. The Magic were perennially among the league’s best defensive teams under Jamahl Mosley, so the infrastructure is already in place for Sweeney to succeed.
Former Bulls head coach Billy Donovan and current Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy are the only candidates reported to have interviewed for the Magic opening since Mosley was fired May 4. Sweeney has also been linked to the head coaching vacancies in Chicago and Dallas.
Fischer and Stein share more inside information from around the league:
- Cavaliers general manager Mike Gansey and Phoenix Mercury GM Nick U’Ren recently had interviews in Philadelphia to become the Sixers‘ head of basketball operations. Sources tell Fischer and Stein that Gansey and Sixers assistant GM Jameer Nelson are considered the leading candidates for the position.
- An extension for Hawks head coach Quin Snyder has been considered “inevitable” since the team’s playoff run ended, according to Fischer and Stein. They cite regular season rumors that Snyder could have been a potential candidate to replace Kenny Atkinson in Cleveland, but sources tell them that Atkinson was always expected to remain with the Cavaliers for a third season.
- Fischer and Stein’s sources also say the Cavaliers are optimistic about re-signing James Harden to a multiyear deal with a lower annual salary than the $39.4MM he made this season. “Rough early estimates” are in the range of $30MM per year, which could help the team escape the second apron.
- The Bulls are closer than the Mavericks to completing their head coaching search, but they’re still talking to several prospects, according to Fischer and Stein. Known candidates so far include Minnesota’s Micah Nori, Miami’s Chris Quinn, Cleveland’s Johnnie Bryant, Oklahoma City’s Dave Bliss and former New Orleans interim coach James Borrego. Nori is also a finalist for the Trail Blazers‘ opening, along with Van Gundy, Boston’s Tyler Lashbrook, Utah’s Mike Williams and acting head coach Tiago Splitter.
Southeast Notes: Black, Diabate, Wizards
The sixth overall pick in the 2023 draft, Magic guard Anthony Black will become eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason as he enters his fourth year in the league. With significant long-term money already owed to Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane, and Jalen Suggs, Orlando will likely be cautious in its negotiations with Black. But he has emerged as a key part of the team’s rotation, so it seems safe to assume the club will be interested in a new deal.
Black would absolutely reciprocate that interest, suggesting to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required) that he’d welcome the opportunity to sign an extension with the Magic in the coming months.
“It’s just an opportunity to officially stamp it as like my home,” Black said. “It’s just something I’ll be looking forward to doing. Starting my young life, this is the first city I’ve played in, so it would mean a lot being able to play here for years.
“Obviously I want to win a lot too and I feel like we’re in a great position to do that and we came really close to doing that,” he continued. “So, for me, that would be ideal, but it’s the NBA and it’s always a decision that has to be made.”
We have more from around the Southeast:
- Hornets center Moussa Diabate had a breakout year in 2026/27, establishing career highs in points (7.9), rebounds (8.7), assists (1.9), and blocks (1.0) per game as he started 47 games in the middle. The 24-year-old, who is entering the final season of his minimum-salary contract in Charlotte, tells Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer that he has no intention of getting “complacent” and wants to continue improving, especially on the offensive end. “Not saying that at the end of the day, I want to (have) a pull-up jumper and all this, but being a threat offensively is going to make me even better, and it’s going to help my teammates,” Diabate said. “So for me, definitely being comfortable with the ball more. Whether it’s me pushing it on the break or just on my handoffs or anything like that, me driving to the basket. Just really expand my game.”
- NBA fans in Washington haven’t had much to cheer about in recent years, as the Wizards have been below .500 for eight straight seasons and haven’t won more than 18 games in a season since 2022/23. However, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic details, ticket sales are soaring in D.C. in the wake of trades for Trae Young and Anthony Davis and the team’s draft lottery win. President of business operations Jim Van Stone told Robbins the team has seen a 190% increase in new full-season ticket revenue from 2025 to 2026.
- In case you missed it, we rounded up several notes on the Heat on Thursday night, including items on Pelle Larsson, Davion Mitchell, and the team’s offseason plans.
Pelicans Notes: Williamson, Mosley, Bickerstaff, Assistants
Jamahl Mosley was introduced as the Pelicans’ new head coach during a press conference on Tuesday. One of his priorities is to get the most out of forward Zion Williamson, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Mosley is convinced Williamson has a lot more to give.
“He hasn’t even scratched the surface of things he can do,” the Pelicans coach said. “I really do believe that. And I think being able to open the floor up more for him, attacking, being able to play him in different positions, because he’s an excellent basketball player with a high IQ for play-making, for making guys around him better, knowing when to make plays and the right passes to make.”
Williamson’s stats this season — 21.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game — were down, but he was able to make 62 appearances. Williamson has played 30 or fewer games in four of his seven seasons due to injuries, including missing the entire 2021/22 campaign.
“I think just opening the floor up a lot more for him to attack the basket, giving space, being able to live at the free throw line consistently,” Mosley said. “Some of the things he’s done here have been obviously spectacular — and so just making sure that we continue that, along with us being healthy.”
Here’s more on the Pelicans:
- Mosley was fired by the Magic after they lost in the first round to the Pistons, who are coached by his close friend J.B. Bickerstaff. The Pistons coach believes Mosley is a good fit for the Pelicans’ roster, he told Rod Walker of NOLA.com in a subscription-required story. “With me having built a relationship with (Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations) Joe Dumars over the years and seeing (general manager) Troy (Weaver) and having an opportunity to coach some of the players Troy drafted here in Detroit, the (Pelicans) organization is headed in the right direction,” Bickerstaff said. “You look at the talent level on that team now. It’s a team that went through similar injuries (to Orlando) last year. They are talented. With Jamahl’s fit there with his personality and ability to coach and organize and build an environment, I feel like that organization has a chance to take a step this year.”
- In another subscriber-only story, Walker interviews some of Mosley’s former college teammates and NBA personnel and comes away with the impression that the Pelicans’ new head coach is a workaholic who strives to excel. One NBA front office executive who wanted to remain anonymous told Walker, “Jamahl did an incredible job of resetting the culture in Orlando by establishing a defensive identity and demanding accountability. Their offensive players bought into defending every night. The Magic went from a bottom-five defense to one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. That type of transformation starts with the coach setting standards and commitment from the players.”
- A quartet of assistants have followed Mosley from the Magic to New Orleans and their roles are defined, Walker tweets. God Shammgod will be involved in player development and in-game game planning/adjustments; Bret Brielmaier will coordinate the offense; Dale Osbourne will coordinate the defense; and Randy Gregory will head up player development.
Southeast Notes: Sweeney, Magic, Heat, Hawks, Hornets
Although the Magic are said to be prioritizing an experienced head coach to replace Jamahl Mosley, with Billy Donovan and Jeff Van Gundy at the forefront of their search, Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) says there have been “ongoing whispers” that Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney is still a candidate for the position.
As Stein notes, Sweeney would be a first-time head coach. The 41-year-old was an assistant for a handful of years in Dallas and received consideration for previous head coaching positions before becoming San Antonio’s top assistant under Mitch Johnson last year.
Sweeney has been credited by the Spurs as the key to their impressive defensive turnaround in 2025/26. They had the fifth-worst defensive rating in the NBA last season, but held the third-best mark in ’25/26.
Sweeney has also been linked to the head coaching vacancies in Chicago and Dallas, with one report referring to him as a “prime candidate” to join the Bulls as Donovan’s replacement. That same report from Jake Fischer said people around the league viewed Donovan as the frontrunner for the job in Orlando, though that was nearly a week ago.
Here’s more from around the Southeast Division:
- The Heat control the 13th and 41st overall picks in June’s draft. As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes (subscriber link), the goal for Miami is to work out and speak to as many as many prospects as possible, but the team recognizes that isn’t always possible. “At the end of the day,” said assistant general manager Adam Simon, “you want to feel as comfortable as you can with the player you’re selecting. And you don’t want to not have that opportunity to spend time with the player. So I think part of it is seeing the player on the court, which for the most part, we’ve seen these players for many years on the court. There’s also the part off the court, how they spend time in our building and getting to know them and having a meal with them. I think that’s also a part of it. But we can’t say we wouldn’t take a player that we didn’t bring in for a workout.”
- After an encouraging 2025/26 campaign, the Hawks appear to be on the upswing, with several talented young players and both the draft assets and financial flexibility to make additional roster upgrades, Yossi Gozlan writes in his offseason preview for Third Apron (Substack link). While Atlanta could technically open up cap room this summer, Gozlan expects the team to operate over the cap and below the first tax apron, giving the front office access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. The Hawks’ most likely pathway for upgrades is via the trade market, Gozlan adds.
- Keith Smith of Spotrac previews the Hornets‘ offseason, writing that re-signing Coby White will be a top priority after Charlotte traded for the North Carolina native prior to the February deadline. Smith suggests the Hornets should attempt to re-sign White to a descending contract in the range of $72-88MM over four years and notes that frontcourt and wing depth should be priorities with the 14th and 18th picks in next month’s draft. Smith doesn’t think Brandon Miller will receive a maximum-salary rookie scale extension, pointing to a four-year, $140MM offer as potential compromise.
Community Shootaround: Which Coaching Job Is Most Appealing?
As our head coaching search tracker shows, a total of six teams have initiated head coaching searches so far this offseason. Milwaukee hired Taylor Jenkins, New Orleans hired Jamahl Mosley, and the searches in Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, and Portland are ongoing.
Jenkins had widely been considered one of the top candidates among coaching free agents and the Bucks moved quickly to get him locked up to a lucrative, long-term deal, but the appeal of that job is somewhat debatable, given the uncertainty surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s future in Milwaukee.
While an Antetokounmpo trade should return a handful of valuable assets, including draft picks and/or young players, the Bucks are missing several of their own future picks, don’t have a ton of young talent around Antetokounmpo, and will be hamstrung to some extent by the sizable cap hits created as a result of waiving and stretching Damian Lillard‘s contract a year ago.
The Pelicans, meanwhile, are coming off 21- and 26-win seasons, but they have a promising young core featuring Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears, Trey Murphy III, Herbert Jones, and Yves Missi. The team doesn’t have a first-round pick this year and whether or not Zion Williamson is still a long-term cornerstone in New Orleans remains to be seen. But Williamson doesn’t appear to be going anywhere for the time being, so Mosley will be tasked with figuring out how to best utilize him and Queen together.
The Bulls appear headed for a rebuild after trading away several veterans at the deadline, with a few others on track for free agency this offseason. The new head coach in Chicago likely won’t be under any pressure to contend right away, but he’ll be responsible for developing youngsters like Matas Buzelis, Noa Essengue, and this year’s No. 4 overall pick.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, will give their new head coach the opportunity to shape Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg into a superstar, though the roster around him is still somewhat up in the air. It’s unclear whether the new-look front office led by Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz will want to keep this group mostly intact or if they envision major changes. Kyrie Irving‘s future is the biggest question mark as he returns from a torn ACL.
More than any other team in this group, the Magic will have lofty short-term expectations for their head coach after Mosley failed to get the team beyond the first round during his five-year tenure. Orlando projects to have one of the NBA’s most expensive rosters next season and will be in win-now mode with a talented group led by Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, and Jalen Suggs.
New Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon has made waves this spring as a result of the cost-cutting measures he has instituted within the organization, and there have been rumors that he won’t be willing to pay a substantial salary for a head coach. While there has been some push-back on those reports, Portland’s list of candidates includes a few little-known assistants we haven’t seen linked to any other jobs. If one of those candidates is hired, it’s safe to assume he wouldn’t be in position to command a lucrative deal.
Putting aside the issue of pay, the Blazers’ job should hold some appeal. The team appears to be on the rise, with Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, Donovan Clingan, and Toumani Camara among the young players who helped lead Portland to a playoff berth this spring, and Damian Lillard set to return from his torn Achilles in the fall.
We want to know what you think. Which of these six head coaching jobs – including the two that have already been filled – look like the most and least appealing?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!
Southeast Notes: JVG, Magic, Peterson, Wizards, Hawks
After Jake Fischer and Marc Stein previously reported that Jeff Van Gundy is among the head coaching candidates on the Magic‘s radar, Stein confirms that the Clippers assistant has interviewed for the Orlando job (Substack link).
There hasn’t been a ton of chatter about the Magic’s head coaching vacancy so far, which could mean the team is still early in its search process or that it’s just keeping things close to the vest. Former Bulls coach Billy Donovan has been identified as a potential frontrunner and Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney is considered likely to interview, but those two and Van Gundy are the only candidates that have been legitimately connected to the position.
There had been speculation that former Lakers coach Darvin Ham could emerge as an option for the Magic, but a Saturday report indicated that he’ll be remaining with the Bucks as an assistant under new head coach Taylor Jenkins.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- While hiring a new head coach is the first item on the Magic‘s offseason to-do list, it will be a busy summer in Orlando, where the club will have to determine how to manage an increasingly expensive roster, writes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link). Gozlan explores the Magic’s potential paths to cap relief using Jonathan Isaac and his partially guaranteed contract and considers other ways the team might shed salary while also examining how a rookie scale extension for Anthony Black would impact the club’s financial situation going forward.
- AJ Dybantsa is widely viewed as the favorite to be the No. 1 pick in next month’s draft, but Kansas guard Darryn Peterson is also a legitimate contender. With that in mind, Chase Hughes of the Monumental Sports Network evaluates Peterson’s potential fit with the Wizards, exploring whether he’s more of a point guard or shooting guard and considering whether it even matters.
- As discouraging as it was at the time, the beat-down that the Hawks received at the hands of New York during the last three games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, when they were outscored by 32 points per contest, doesn’t look as bad as it once did, writes Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required). The Knicks have gone 7-0 since that series and their only two losses of the playoffs came against Atlanta. The Hawks still have plenty of work to do on their roster, Williams acknowledges, but they might not be quite as far away from contention as that first-round loss made it seem.
Pelicans Hiring God Shammgod As Assistant Coach
The Pelicans are hiring veteran coach God Shammgod to be an assistant under new head coach Jamahl Mosley, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
A former guard who played professionally in the NBA and several other leagues around the world from 1997-2009, Shammgod got into coaching after retiring as a player and spent nearly a decade as a player development assistant in Dallas from 2016-25.
Shammgod worked alongside Mosley, a former Mavs assistant, until 2021 and then joined him in Orlando for the 2025/26 season. Now he’ll be leaving the Magic to rejoin Mosley’s in New Orleans as a front-of-the-bench assistant, per Scotto.
League sources tell Scotto that Mosley is expected to carry over a handful of assistants who were already working for the Pelicans, including Greg Monroe, Jodie Meeks, Mike Hopkins, and Will Bynum. However, he’ll also be making some of his own additions to the staff besides Shammgod.
Two of those potential newcomers are Dale Osbourne and Bret Brielmaier, who worked with Mosley in Orlando and are considered “strong candidates” to make the move to New Orleans, Scotto reports. Osbourne was in charge of the Magic’s defense, while Brielmaier holds some previous experience as a G League head coach, having led the Long Island Nets during the 2020/21 season.
Mavericks Executive Matt Riccardi Leaving Organization
It has been a month of upheaval in Dallas. After hiring Masai Ujiri to be their new president and Mike Schmitz as their general manager, the Mavericks parted ways with head coach Jason Kidd on Tuesday and are also splitting with executive Matt Riccardi, who is departing the organization, per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
A native of the Dallas area, Riccardi worked with the Nets for 13 years in scouting and executive roles, then was hired by the Mavericks in 2022 as their senior director of pro personnel.
He was promoted during the summer of 2023 to an assistant GM position and was elevated again last November when the team fired Nico Harrison, becoming a co-interim GM with Michael Finley at that time. Riccardi and Finley ran the front office for the remainder of the 2025/26 season while the Mavs searched for Harrison’s permanent successor. According to Fischer, Riccardi was actually the runner-up to Ujiri in that search.
Riccardi was the Mavs’ representative in the drawing room on draft lottery night last May when the team won the No. 1 overall pick and also represented Dallas at this month’s lottery drawing. Just over a week later, however, he’s on his way out. Riccardi’s exit is part of a “flurry” of staff changes involving coaches and scouts, writes Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
There has been no indication yet whether Finley will remain in Dallas’ front office or join Riccardi in leaving the team.
Here are a few more notes from Stein on the changes in Dallas:
- Ujiri’s annual salary on his new deal with the Mavs is “comfortably” in the eight figures, industry sources tell The Stein Line.
- While it’s not immediately clear who will emerge as top candidates to replace Kidd on the sidelines in Dallas, Ujiri likely already has some specific targets in mind, according to Stein, who points out that the former Raptors executive hired Schmitz just four days after joining the organization. Spurs associate head coach and former Mavs assistant Sean Sweeney is one potential candidate with ties to the team, Stein notes; Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, whose time as a Raptors assistant overlapped with Ujiri’s stint in Toronto, is another.
- As for Kidd, it’s possible he could draw immediate interest from another team seeking a head coach, assuming he wants to jump right into another job. The Magic, who are in the midst of a coaching search, had serious interest in Kidd before hiring Jamahl Mosley in 2021, per Stein. Kidd also has a preexisting relationship with new Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon, Stein adds.
- According to Stein, the expectation is that the Mavericks will receive trade interest in point guard Kyrie Irving this offseason, though it remains to be seen whether or not they’ll be receptive to those inquiries.
Billy Donovan Considered Frontrunner In Magic’s Coaching Search
The Magic have begun to speak to head coaching candidates as they look for a replacement for Jamahl Mosley, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
While Fischer cautions that things can change quickly in the NBA, coaching insiders around the league consider Billy Donovan the frontrunner for the job, with an “excellent shot” at being hired. Donovan spent the last six years as head coach of the Bulls before parting ways with Chicago last month.
Sources tell Fischer that Donovan has been talking to Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman about the position and will have an in-person interview “in the near future.”
Donovan nearly became Orlando’s head coach back in June 2007. He and the Magic reached an agreement on a five-year contract but Donovan wavered on the decision and ultimately backed out of the deal in order to return to the University of Florida. The Magic hired Stan Van Gundy instead.
Tom Thibodeau has been mentioned as a possible candidate in Orlando, but Fischer hears the Magic have yet to talk to him and he hasn’t been part of the interview process. Thibodeau is a coaching free agent after being fired by New York last summer.
Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy, on the other hand, is among the coaches on Orlando’s radar, report Fischer and his colleague Marc Stein. Van Gundy was head coach of the Knicks and Rockets from 1995-2007.
Although the Magic are said to be looking for an experienced candidate, they’re expected to interview Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney, according to Fischer, who says the 41-year-old is also a “prime candidate” to replace Donovan in Chicago.