The Orlando Magic announced who will join new coach Sean Sweeney's staff. He replaced Jamahl Mosely, who was fired shortly after the season
The Orlando Magic have filled out the assistant coaching staff for the start of the Sean Sweeney era. They made the announcement Monday morning.
The additions were:
Joe Prunty
Greg Buckner
Popeye Jones
Tom Bialaszewski
Riley Crean
Jon Harris
Ben Johnson
Jacqlyn Poss
Mfon Udofia
D.J. Bakker
Shannan Lum
Here's the official release from the team:
"The Orlando Magic have named Joe Prunty, Greg Buckner, Popeye Jones, Tom Bialaszewski (bee-uhl-SHEV-ski), Riley Crean, Jon Harris, Ben Johnson, Jacqlyn Poss and Mfon Udofia (moo-FON you-DOE-fee-uh) assistant coaches, while D.J. Bakker (baker) will serve as assistant coach/director of player development and Shannan Lum has been named assistant coach/director of coaching operations, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deals are not disclosed. They will serve on the coaching staff under Sean Sweeney, who was named head coach of the Magic on June 1. In addition, Curtis Lewis (head video coordinator) and Nicholas Russo (manager of basketball strategy) have also been added to the basketball operations department."
The Magic are coming off what some would consider a disappointing season. They were labeled a contender in the Eastern Conference last offseason after signing Desmond Bane but dealt with inconsistency issues all season.
That led to a surprising No. 8 spot in the playoffs. They had a chance to get past the struggles after building a 3-1 lead against the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons in the first round. But an injury to Franz Wagner halted any hopes of an upset. The Pistons won the final three games to capture the series.
Shortly after the season, coach Jamahl Mosely was fired. The Magic have been relatively inactive during free agency so far except for a few minor moves. They were considered in the race for Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetokounmp before he eventually landed with the Miami Heat.
Now, the Magic have to decide which direction they want to head.
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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of MagicRoundtable. He can be reached at [email protected]
