By John Denton
May 16, 2016
NEW YORK – An Orlando Magic franchise stunned and staggered by the abrupt resignation of Scott Skiles last week could use a stroke of good fortune from an old friend.
The predictably unpredictable NBA Draft Lottery has been there for the Magic three times before in the past, lifting the franchise to incredible heights when it was similarly in need of a pick-me-up boost. It rewarded the franchise with No. 1 picks in 1992, ’93 and 2004 so that the franchise could acquire Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway and Dwight Howard. Recent history of the NBA Draft Lottery hasn’t been so kind for Orlando, awarding them with the Nos. 2, 4 and 5 picks – ones it used to draft Victor Oladipo, Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja – to form the foundation of the present-day version of the Magic.
Owners of a 35-47 record from this past season, the Magic will need lots of lotto luck on their side if they are going to win another lottery and end up on top of the June 23rd NBA Draft. They have just an 0.8 percent shot at the top spot. The odds aren’t much better of landing the No. 2 pick (0.95 percent) or the No. 3 pick (1.15 percent).
The NBA Draft Lottery, which will be held at the New York Hilton on Tuesday at 8 p.m., is used to determine just the top three spots of the NBA Draft. After those three picks are determined teams are slotted in inverse order based on their regular-season record. The greatest odds are that the Magic will end up with No. 11 pick after the squad made a 10-win improvement from 2014-15 to 2015-16.
Winning the lottery with slim odds has been done before. Cleveland captured the top spot in 2014 despite having just a 1.1 percent shot. Chicago (1.7 percent chance in 2008) and New Jersey (4.4 percent in 2000) pulled off similar feats.
Orlando showed signs of great progress this past season, but that was done with Skiles at the helm as head coach. Skiles shocked the Magic on Wednesday when he informed them that he wanted to resign following his first season as Orlando’s head coach. The Magic gave Skiles a night to think over the decision and they then announced the resignation on Thursday to stun a basketball world that assumed Skiles was a perfect fit molding Orlando’s youth-filled roster.
Skiles was apparently bothered tremendously by being unable to get past the disappointment of failing to guide an Orlando team to the postseason. The process of hiring a new coach has already begun, but GM Rob Hennigan said last week that a frustration from the previous season still prevails. The hope is that Orlando’s next coach will get the franchise back into the playoffs and the frustration of the past four seasons will quickly dissolve.
“Well, quite honestly, the pain is still with all of us,” Hennigan said. “We wanted to make the playoffs and we didn’t. We have some work to do there.
“Now, at the same time we do feel like we made progress this year. I have said that and I think Scott said that,” Hennigan continued. “I want to make it clear that Scott did a heck of a job for us this year. We improved in a lot of categories. Scott brought a really good structure, discipline and accountability to our team that has not only benefitted from in the short term, but I truly believe it will benefit from in the long term.”
Hennigan, assistant GMs Scott Perry and Matt Lloyd and scout Anthony Parker spent much of last week in Chicago at the NBA Draft Combine, interviewing some of the top players in the draft and evaluating others for that they could select with one of their two second-round picks.
Hennigan is also trying to juggle the arduous task of hiring a head coach while preparing for the NBA Draft. He’s been in this position twice before, hiring Jacque Vaughn before the 2012 NBA Draft and locking up Skiles prior to last year’s draft. It isn’t imperative for the Magic to have a coach in place by the June 23 NBA Draft, but it would most likely to be beneficial to have the direction of the team cemented before the opening of the free-agent courting period on July 1. Prudent with its spending over the past four years, the Magic could potentially have as much as $45 million to spend on free agents to enhance an already solid core that includes Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, Elfrid Payton, Oladipo, Gordon and Hezonja.
Hennigan knows that prospective free agents will want to be familiar with Orlando’s coach prior to inking a long-term deal with the Magic. Also, New York, Houston and Memphis are still seeking head coaches and vying with the Magic for some of the same candidates. Indiana is reportedly prepared to promote assistant coach Nate McMillian to its head coaching position.
“Well, (the coaching change) certainly impacts it,” Hennigan said, referring to the recruitment of free agents. “You can’t say that it doesn’t impact it. While this is challenge, we have to now look at it as an opportunity to find a new coach who fits our team and can propel us forward. We do have some big decisions to make, relative to the draft and free agency. Our philosophy all along is that we make decision mutually and we collaborate and we discuss things as an entire staff. And we will continue to do that once we get a new coach in place.”
As for the Magic getting lucky at the lottery, the franchise was once the poster child for the zaniness that often takes place at the event. In 1993, after the Magic narrowly missed the playoffs, the Magic headed to the NBA Draft lottery with just ping pong ball in a hopper loaded with 66 of them. Remarkably, the Magic were the winners, prompting change in the system.
“Our little ping pong ball scratched and clawed and fought its way all the way up to the top,” recalled Magic Senior Vice President Pat Williams recently.
Could it happen again? The Magic are certainly hoping that more lotto luck will be on their side come Tuesday night.
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