The Magic were expected to compete for the Eastern Conference title this season and never came close


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The Orlando Magic have fired head coach Jamahl Mosley, the team announced Monday, just hours after they were eliminated from the playoffs. The move was one of the more anticipated coaching changes in the NBA throughout the 2025-26 season as Orlando, fresh off the blockbuster trade acquisition of Desmond Bane, severely disappointed in a season in which they were expected to seriously compete for the Eastern Conference crown. However, their postseason easily could have changed everything.

After losing their first Play-In game to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Magic blew out the Charlotte Hornets to clinch the Eastern Conference's No. 8 seed. Once in the first round, they won three of their first four games against the 60-win Detroit Pistons, taking a 3-1 lead in the series and nearly clinching the upset. However, without Franz Wagner in the final three games of the series, they fell apart. Orlando led by as many as 24 points in Game 6 at home, but a 19-point second half doomed their chances as Detroit came back to win before taking Game 7 comfortably. That collapse was seemingly the final nail in Mosley's coffin.

"We're grateful to Jamahl (Mosley) for all he's done for the Orlando Magic," president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said in a statement. "We appreciate his leadership and the positive contributions he made as head coach. While this was a difficult decision, we feel it's time for a new voice and fresh perspective. We wish Jamahl and his family nothing but the best."

Mosley spent more than a decade as an NBA assistant coach, most notably with the Dallas Mavericks, before getting his chance at a head job in Orlando before the 2021-22 season. The Magic missed the playoffs in his first two seasons, but slowly built a culture around their defense and athleticism. That development paid off in the 2023-24 season, when the Magic made it back to the postseason and pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the first round.

The Magic couldn't quite replicate that success in the 2024-25 season. They remained strong on defense, but injuries sapped them of their talent and depth throughout the season. Meanwhile, Mosley never managed to figure out the Banchero-Wagner partnership, as both young stars seemed to play better when the other was sidelined. Orlando's streak of bottom-10 offenses, which dated all the way back to the end of the Dwight Howard era, remained intact.

So the Magic took a big swing last offseason, trading four first-round picks and a first-round swap to the Memphis Grizzlies for Desmond Bane. With Boston and Indiana weakened by injuries, the Magic saw an opportunity to push for a Finals trip in a depleted conference. Instead, they slogged through an extremely disappointing season.

Though they managed to break their bottom-10 offense streak, Bane's addition did little to address some of their core offensive problems. Some of them, like the awkward Banchero-Wagner fit and a lack of role player shooting, were out of Mosley's hands. But the relatively bland schemes Orlando ran seemingly had more to do with coaching. Meanwhile, the formerly stellar defense fell to around league average after consecutive top-three finishes.

The Orlando job should theoretically appeal to outside candidates, especially after their strong, albeit brief, playoff showing. This is still a young and talented roster. But the Magic have a serious financial crunch looming. After giving max extensions to Banchero and Wagner, the Magic are already close to next year's projected second apron. After next season, the roster is slated to get even more expensive if they sign key guard Anthony Black to the sort of hefty rookie extension that he deserves. Odds are, this team is going to look different in a few years. The Magic seemed to know that. That's part of what made this year's disappointment so significant. It was an all-in year and their coach is paying the price for the bust.

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