With five weeks to go until the Orlando Magic pick fifth in the NBA Draft, the likelihood exists that they might not have a head coach in place by then.
Former Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks appears to be out of any consideration after a report Wednesday suggested he is leaning toward taking next season off.
And while the Chicago Bulls were eliminated from the playoffs a week ago, the future of Tom Thibodeau -- whose strained relationship with their management has been the source of rampant conjecture -- remains very much up in the air.
The Magic have been reticent to publicly address their coaching situation since April 16, the day when their end-of-season exit interviews were held. James Borrego had a 10-20 record after taking over in February for the fired Jacque Vaughn, and no determination about his role with them has been made.
"We're being deliberate," Magic chief executive officer Alex Martins told a reporter Tuesday at the league's draft lottery. "We're not sticking ourselves to any sort of timeline. We've had an incredible amount of interest in the job."
The last time the Magic were in a similar situation was when they fired Stan Van Gundy exactly three years ago. Vaughn was not named as his successor until July 28, a month after the draft. General manager Rob Hennigan was not hired until eight days before the draft to replace Otis Smith, who was let go on the same day Van Gundy was.
Some potential candidates when Vaughn was dismissed have since been eliminated. George Karl was hired by the Sacramento Kings, while Avery Johnson jumped from television studio analysis work to the college ranks at Alabama. Any chance the Magic might court Billy Donovan a second time was scrapped when the Thunder chose the longtime Florida coach to replace Brooks.
The Magic, the New Orleans Pelicans and the Denver Nuggets are the only teams currently without a full-time coach. The firing May 12 of former Magic forward Monty Williams as coach of the Pelicans came largely out of nowhere and was widely perceived as a way to possibly entice Thibodeau, the 2011 Coach of the Year whose reputation has been built on defense, to take over a team featuring Anthony Davis, who led the NBA in blocked shots last season.
A report during last week's pre-draft camp in Chicago hinted the Magic are willing to pay Thibodeau close to $9 million annually and give him extensive input in basketball-related matters.
Since neither Borrego nor Vaughn had any previous head coaching experience, the prevailing wisdom is the Magic will eventually hire someone with a more extensive background. But with both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State reaching their respective conference finals under first-year head coaches, a newcomer to the ranks can't be ruled out entirely.
You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.
