Latest news with #JamahlMosley
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Orlando Magic Called Out By Bomani Jones After Desmond Bane Trade
Orlando Magic Called Out By Bomani Jones After Desmond Bane Trade originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Orlando Magic made a bold move recently as they dealt Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and four first-round picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for high-scoring, smooth shooting guard Desmond Bane. Advertisement The deal helped to round out the Magic's roster with a scoring guard capable of making an immediate impact for coach Jamahl Mosley's team, which has shown promise in recent years but was knocked out of the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs by the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics in five games. On Monday, former ESPN host and currently Wave Sports Entertainment host Bomani Jones shared his thoughts on the trade, including critical thoughts on the plans and state of the Magic franchise. Magic coach Jamahl Mosley during an April 13 game. © Dale Zanine-Imagn Images "Regardless of what valuation you put on these late round first round picks, in this era of NBA parity, I do not think that you can make the assumptions about how good you might be for how a team (the Magic) that doesn't have a frontline superstar. Advertisement "And so to me without the presence of a front line superstar, I don't understand what they're doing. I do not feel as good about the idea, with your two best players being Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner," Jones added. "I think at best it's a handful of low spades, and I think that Desmond Bane is somebody that qualifies as a low spade. I'm not saying they can't be trumps..." Jones continued on his show, 'The Right Time With Bomani Jones,' in a clip shared Monday. Related: Magic Boss Issues Strong Statement After Desmond Bane Trade This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Magic Head Coach Offers Verdict on Potential Offseason Changes in Orlando
The Orlando Magic were just eliminated from the NBA Playoffs on Tuesday, getting blown out by the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the first round. Orlando's final game of the season highlighted the offensive struggles the Magic had throughout the season. Boston Celtics Orlando Magic playoff series© Mike Watters-Imagn Images Although the season was marked by injuries to key players like Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, the team struggled to establish consistent offensive rhythm. Advertisement Despite making the playoffs, Orlando ranked among the bottom four teams in the league in points per game, three-pointers made, field goal percentage and field goal attempts. Head Coach Jamahl Mosley addresses possible roster changes The Orlando Magic's end of season interviews took place on Thursday and all of the players and coaches were asked about the 2024-25 season as well as seasons ahead. Head Coach Jamahl Mosley was asked if he was excited to maybe swap some defensive-minded players to bring in more offense. Mosley responded abruptly, saying, "Yes. I'm okay with that." Mosley seemed very convinced that their offensive struggles were the main problem behind not being able to get over the first round hump of the playoffs. Advertisement In earlier interviews, Mosley took to the press, saying that he's ready to make that next step in the franchise and getting over the first round hump. "There's no excitement in getting to the playoffs. It sounds good, but there's no excitement in getting bumped out of the first round... What sounds better, to me, is your aspirations to win a championship," he explained. Orlando hasn't been able to make it past the first round of the postseason since 2010, a year that the Magic lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to the same team they lost to 15 years later – the Celtics. It appears the Magic could make roster moves this offseason in an effort to build a true championship-contending team in Orlando. Advertisement Related: Miami Heat Coach Sends Honest Jimmy Butler Message After Playoff Exit Related: Ex-NBA Player Urges Heat to Target Bucks' Star Over Kevin Durant
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘It's tragic': Magic's Jamahl Mosley, Jonathan Isaac react to FSU shooting
Before Jamahl Mosley took questions after Thursday's practice at the AdventHealth Training Center, the Magic coach addressed something far more serious. Around the same time Orlando went through practice ahead of the start of this weekend's NBA playoff series against the Celtics, a shooting took place on the campus of Florida State University. Two victims were killed and six other people injured after a lone shooter opened fire at FSU in Tallahassee on Thursday, according to law enforcement. 'This is the opportunity right now to talk about putting things in perspective,' Mosley said. 'What's going on at Florida State, ongoing, with the lives lost … I just want to send thoughts, prayers that things are handled speedily and that we can just continue to pray for those that have been impacted by this, to understand that lives are more important, and human beings are more important, than a basketball game or a playoff series at any given time. 'That's what we need to continually remember in these moments right now,' he added. Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, who attended FSU and played basketball for one season with Seminole before turning pro in 2017, had just learned of the incident as well. 'My mind is kind of all over the place,' he said. 'I don't have the details, but it's tragic and I'm sad about it. I'm sad about anything that happens like this anywhere but for it happen at Florida State takes a toll, means a lot. 'I'll absolutely be praying for everybody involved and hopefully everything is cleared up soon,' Isaac added. Thursday wasn't the first time this season Mosley had shared his thoughts about similar tragic events. In January, the Magic coach sent his thoughts and prayers to the victims of the Southern California wildfires. Last November, Mosley described a Halloween mass shooting in Orlando as 'sickening' and said he was heartbroken. The month prior, he spoke about the death of USF men's basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. 'It's about coming together. It's about finding the human being in everything we do, because lives are being lost and have been lost,' Mosley said Thursday. 'We play a game of basketball, but the faster we can understand about coming together as human beings, the better things can be. It's how things heal, it's how you connect with people, is the most important thing, and finding a way to share and spread love versus the other side of it.' It's a thoughtful perspective he shares with his team. 'We talk about a lot of things, and us being a tied-together, close-knit group, we celebrate each other,' Mosley said. 'And that's what it starts — it doesn't have to have tragedy to be able to talk about the things that you're grateful for in life. And we do that often to celebrate each other, to celebrate this community who constantly supports us, and that we are blessed and privileged to be in this situation, because not everybody has that. 'So, our ability to not take it for granted and to appreciate that the small, minor blessings that we have, you want to have that every single day and every single morning that you're given the opportunity to wake up.' Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@
New York Times
15-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Orlando Magic have something to prove heading into NBA Play-In Tournament
Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley has worked for 20 years in the NBA, and in all that time, he's never experienced a season quite like the one that Magic players, coaches and staff members just endured. Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs all suffered significant injuries during the season, limiting them to only six games together for a not-so-grand total of 97 minutes before Suggs sustained yet another injury, a season-ending cartilage tear that required surgery. Moe Wagner, who had emerged as a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate, tore a knee ligament in mid-December, ending his season prematurely, too. Advertisement 'A very strange season,' Mosley said. 'I think that's the best way to describe it. The injuries to start off the year changed the way in which you approach things, the way in which you have to dissect things. Ultimately, the only way I can describe it is it feels like seven seasons in one. 'And why I say that is because you have Paolo going down; you have to adjust there. Franz going down; you have to adjust there. Jalen going down; you adjust there. Moe going down; adjust there. And then the unknown of when guys are coming back, when they're not coming back — all of those things played a part into how you have to address the team, approach the team, the day to day. I think those are all different aspects when you have guys in and out of lineups, especially such big pieces to what you're doing.' Now begins another distinct part of their year. On Tuesday night, the Magic (41-41) will host the Atlanta Hawks (40-42) in the opening Eastern Conference Play-In game. The winning team will face the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in the first round. The losing team will have one last chance to reach the playoffs, a game Friday night against the winner of the Play-In game between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. Magic players, of course, would be happy to advance to the first round. But they expected more from themselves this season than having to eke into the playoffs through the Play-In. After all, last year, they secured the East's fifth seed after a 47-win season and nearly upset the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, pushing the Cavs to seven games. 'Obviously, we were on an upwards trajectory, and I think this year was really the first year we had a little bit of pressure and maybe not everything went the way we thought it would before the year,' Wagner said. 'But I think that's part of progress as well. So, obviously, injuries were a big part of our struggles this year and … I think the biggest thing is that we stuck together, and hopefully it can help us in the coming years.' Advertisement More adversity likely will hit as early as Tuesday's Play-In game. The Hawks have proven they can match up well against the Magic this season. On Feb. 10, the Hawks won in Orlando, 112-106, despite 37 points from Wagner and 31 more from Banchero. Although the Magic won the next two meetings between the teams, those were close matchups; last Wednesday, the Magic defeated the Hawks, 119-112, at Kia Center, in a hard-fought, back-and-forth game that featured seven lead changes and seven ties. The Magic's Achilles' heel this season (apart from their injuries, that is) has been their shooting, even though it's improved in recent weeks. Orlando finished the regular season 27th in offensive rating, last in 3-point percentage and last in 3-point makes. In last week's victory over the Hawks, the Magic made 14 of their 34 attempts (41 percent) from deep, an unusually high accuracy rate for them. But can they count on their shot-making in a pressure game, the kind of pressure that Play-In games and playoff games create? That's the essential question they face — and one that will remain unanswered until they actually do it. In last year's playoff series loss to the Cavs, the Magic made only 33 percent of their 3-point attempts as the Cavs opted to pack the paint and dare the Magic to beat them with long-range shooting. Last offseason, the Magic signed free-agent wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three-year, $66 million contract, hoping that Caldwell-Pope would knock down open shots and provide spacing that would help create driving lanes for Banchero and Wagner. Caldwell-Pope had been a disappointment on offense for most of the season, making only 31 percent of his 3s before the All-Star break. Since the break, with a bit more rest, he's made 44 percent of his attempts on 3.5 attempts per game. Advertisement In last week's win over Atlanta, Caldwell-Pope scored 15 points on the strength of 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. 'When he's knocking down shots, it opens everything up,' Banchero said. 'Everyone just tells him to keep letting it fly, but he doesn't really need to hear that. He's a two-time champ. He's a vet. So, he doesn't need really anybody giving him a pep talk. He knew all along that eventually the seal (over the basket) was going to break and his shots were going to start to fall.' Of course, it would be unfair to pin Orlando's offensive woes on Caldwell-Pope. The truth is, most of his teammates have struggled with their shooting, too. That adds intrigue to Tuesday night's Play-In game. When Atlanta goes on a run, as it almost surely will with Trae Young guiding the Hawks' offense, can Orlando respond? 'A do-or-die game, basically,' Wagner said. 'I think those are always fun.' (Top photo of Paolo Banchero: Geoff Burke / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Beede's Breakdown: Magic overcome 3rd-quarter woes to win at Wizards
Although the Magic had won their first three meetings against the Wizards by an average margin of 20.6 points, younger teams such as Washington searching for momentum to carry into the offseason can be difficult to put away. The Wizards accomplished exactly that type of win against the Kings on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. Advertisement Although it wasn't pretty at times, Orlando avoided a similar fate 24 hours later when Jamahl Mosley's squad left the nation's capital on top, 109-97, thanks to a combined 60 points from Paolo Banchero (33) and Franz Wagner (27). The Wizards never led after the first quarter, and never led by more than 3, but they cut their deficit to single digits multiple times in the second half. The victory secured the season sweep against Washington (17-60) and it was Orlando's 10th win in a row against its Southeast Divison foe. The Magic (38-40) will have some time off before they return to Kia Center when they host the Hawks on Tuesday. Banchero's big night Not only did Banchero reach 30-plus points for the 16th time, he grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds to go with 8 assists in 39 minutes. Advertisement He recorded his 10th double-double by attacking the paint, where Orlando outscored Washington 50-40. It also was Banchero's 16th consecutive contest with 20-plus points and 5-plus rebounds. Banchero and Wagner each scored 20-plus points for the 10th straight game. Third quarter strikes again The Magic returned to their same old habits out of halftime when they settled for shots, didn't share the ball and waited too long to call a timeout. The Wizards cut a 19-point deficit down to 3 for a moment behind a 15-5 run. Wizards rookie Bub Carrington scored 11 points in the frame and Marcus Smart added 10 when both made a pair of 3-pointers when Washington scored 6 points off 4 turnovers. Advertisement The Magic led just 81-76 entering the final 12 minutes. Free points The Magic, who entered Thursday with the 20th free throw percentage in the league (77.5%), shot well above that. In the first half alone, Orlando made 16 of 17. Banchero, who's fourth among all players with 8.4 free throw tries per game, made 6 of 7 before the break to help him notch 20 points in 20 first-half minutes. The Magic finished 22 of 25 (88%) and only let Washington take 11, making 9. Rookie watch No. 18 pick Tristan da Silva didn't see the floor for the second straight game as a healthy scratch. Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@
