The Orlando Magic have been amongst the most pleasant surprises to the NBA season. After a year in which the team only won 34 games and finished with a losing record for the fourth straight year, the Magic are on the winning side of things and are on track to make the postseason for the first time since the 2019-2020 season. With all the success surrounding the Magic lately, it makes sense that the team announced Tuesday morning that they're signing coach Jamahl Mosley to a multi-year contract extension.
In three seasons with the Magic, Mosley has only improved each year. After winning only 22 games in his first year as coach, the Magic are now on the cusp of finishing with 40+ wins, that's no small feat for a franchise that has been rudderless for the last decade.
"Jamahl [Mosley] and his staff have done a tremendous job not only this season, but since we hired him back in 2021," Magic president Jeff Weltman said in the team's statement. "His preparation, work ethic, ability to connect with the players, and passion he brings to the job every day brings positive results, both on the court and off. We are very happy to have Jamahl lead the Magic for years to come."
The Magic are winning games with their defense, which ranks fifth in the league, and their offense is led by a bevy of young talent centered around last year's Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. All season they've been showing how much they've improved from where they were a year ago, and it began early with an 8-5 start to the season, the best start since 2017. Even through slumps the Magic weathered the storm, as Mosley has said in the past that his team is learning how to win.
While there's still a month left in the season, the Magic have at least secured a spot in the play-in. If they can keep up their recent performance – a 7-3 record in their past 10 games – they could snag a top-6 seed without having to go through the unpredictable play-in round.
If the Magic are one of the top eight teams in the East at the end of the regular season, they'll not only be breaking the four-year postseason drought, but if they win a series, Mosley will become the first Orlando head coach since Stan Van Gundy in 2010 to win a playoff series. Orlando is certainly built to give some of the teams in the East issues, especially with their stingy defense, and winning a playoff series will just be the next step in this team's rapid development.
That development is in large part due to Mosley, who has been with both Banchero and Wagner since they entered the league. He's implemented a defense that allows the fourth-fewest 3-point attempts a game and limits opponents' second-chance opportunities. The offense still has a ways to go to become a consistent threat, but Banchero and Wagner are two versatile offensive players who can hurt you in a variety of ways. If the Magic get some reliable 3-point shooters in the offseason, this team could be even more of a threat next season.
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