It is that time of the year again. Everyone everywhere is thinking about their New Year’s resolutions and what they need to do to better themselves as the calendars switch over. The National Basketball Association is no different, as players, teams, general managers, and franchise owners all look at their NBA needs and to-do lists, entering 2024. Here is perhaps the biggest need for each NBA team in the Southeast Division:
Magic Resolution: Extend Coach Jamahl Mosley
Orlando needs…to keep their coach around for a long time. The Magic have not kept a coach in house for more than three seasons since Stan Van Gundy, who coached the team for five seasons in 2008-2012.
While Jamahl Mosley was sorted into the Below-Average/Unproven tier in our Hoops Habit 2023-2024 NBA Coaches Tier List, he has exceeded expectations this season and done some nice things with a young Magic roster. They enter the year with a 19-13 record and have played most of the season without Wendell Carter Jr. and Markelle Fultz.
Mosley signed a four-year contract in 2021 and if this season continues to go as well as it has so far, he deserves an extension. There is also a lot of benefit to keeping Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, among others, with the same (and only) head coach they have had in the NBA.
It looks like Mosley has passed through the “growing pains” part of the Orlando experience and the Magic are poised to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-2020 season and set up to have their first winning season since the 2018-2019 season.