NBA Rumors: Orlando Magic may fire GM Rob Hennigan
As they head for the draft lottery again, the Orlando Magic may soon look for new front office leader.
For years, at least since Dwight Howard’s tenure ended awkwardly, the Orlando Magic have not been on the national NBA radar very much. A fairly active 2016 offseason, with the hiring of Frank Vogel as head coach and a notable trade for forward Serge Ibaka, raised expectations for this season and the heat on general manager Rob Hennigan if the team fell short.
With 25-45 record, which is worse than the Philadelphia 76ers right now, the Magic will again have a lottery pick in June. Ibaka was dealt to the Toronto Raptors near the trade deadline in February, which looked like a fast admission of an ill-conceived move.
Hennigan is the NBA’s youngest general manager, at 34 years old, and he’s in his fifth season in the job with Orlando. A place on the hot seat is virtually guaranteed, with no playoff seasons in that time, and ESPN’s Marc Stein has reported Hennigan’s job is indeed in jeopardy.
Over the weekend, ESPN passed along speculation about Doc Rivers returning to Orlando at some point “down the road.” The Los Angeles Clippers head coach and team president faces some uncertainty in his current post, with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin both possibly headed for free agency, so Rivers could be looking to leave too.
Rivers’ first head coaching job was with the Magic, with three playoff berths and an NBA Coach of the Year award (2000) over four-plus seasons (1999-2003). So there is some, mostly positive, history there.
Hennigan’s contract runs through next season, so there’s nothing preventing his firing very quickly after the season. The Magic have been in an odd middle ground recently, never good enough to make the playoffs but never bad enough to position themselves to get one of the top picks in the draft regularly.
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Hennigan does not look like the man to lead the process, one direction or the other. But a move to hire Rivers as the front office leader would clearly point to trying to win now, as much as he would carry credibility without regarding his head coaching resume.