The Magic are making three additions to new head coach Sean Sweeney‘s staff. They are hiring Riley Crean, Mfon Udofia and DJ Bakker as assistants, according to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype (Twitter links here).
Crean was the head video coordinator of the Mavericks and spent three of four seasons there working with Sweeney, who was in the Dallas organization from 2021-25 until he became a top assistant with the Spurs this past season. Crean, 27, is the son of former college coach and current broadcaster Tom Crean.
Udofia has been serving as the Nets‘ G League coach. He has the most coaching victories in Long Island Nets history. He was also Nigeria’s head coach at the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers and an assistant at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Baker comes from the Hornets‘ staff. He was an assistant for Charlotte and head coach of the G League’s Greensboro Swarm. He has also been an assistant in Milwaukee and Detroit, where he worked with Sweeney.
Orlando announced the hiring of Sweeney at the beginning of the month.
Here’s more on the Magic:
- In his offseason preview, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith says he believes Orlando is unlikely to make a big roster move this summer. Instead, this offseason will be about rebalancing the cap sheet a little bit while hoping that better health and a different coaching staff can get the core group deeper into the postseason. One piece of tricky business could be working out a rookie scale extension with Anthony Black. Smith believes $80MM over four years could be the sweet spot, though Black may decide to bet on himself and try to increase his value in his fourth NBA season.
- The Magic have confirmed two preseason home games for the fall, announcing (via Twitter) that they’ll host the Cavaliers on October 13 and the Heat on October 16.
- In case you missed it, Franz Wagner recently spoke about his injury issues. He vows to take steps to avoid long absences next season. Wagner missed 48 games this past season.
