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There are massive changes in Orlando already.
Less than 24 hours after the eight-seeded Magic were defeated by the top-seeded Pistons in a best-of-seven first-round series, the team fired coach Jamahl Mosley.
Mosley led the team to a 45-37 record and a playoff berth, though that was considered a disappointment considering their hopes coming into the season.
Orlando went all in before the season started when they traded for wing Desmond Bane in exchange for four unprotected first-round picks, among other assets.
Still, the announcement is at least a little surprising considering the Magic entered their first-round series as massive underdogs and gave the Pistons everything they could handle.
The Magic arguably should have won this series against the Pistons, leading 3-2 and looking ripe to defeat them in Game 6, up 22 points at halftime at home.
Though the offense collapsed from that point, as the Magic were on the wrong end of an insane 55-19 run.
They lost Game 6, 93-79, and were also blown out in Game 7 to signal Mosley’s obituary as the Magic’s coach.
Magic team president Jeff Weltman will lead the charge to find a new coach in Orlando who can unlock the offensive prowess of star forward Paolo Banchero, along with Jalen Suggs and Wendell Carter Jr.
When asked whether the team has enough to be successful in the future, Banchero had a tough answer after they were eliminated in the first round for the third straight season.
“I want to say yes, but we haven’t been out of the first round,” Banchero told reporters. “I can’t say we’re good enough to be in the Finals or Eastern Finals because the last three years we’ve had the same result.”
Mosley, who played college basketball at Colorado and overseas professionally, is still under contract and will be paid through the 2027-28 season by the Magic after he signed an extension in 2024.
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