The Orlando Magic soon will seek to extend general manager Rob Hennigan’s contract beyond the 2015-16 season, an industry source with knowledge of the team’s plans told the Orlando Sentinel.
The DeVos family and CEO Alex Martins are pleased with the job Hennigan has done since Hennigan was hired in June 2012.
Martins, who would not comment for this article, likes to maintain continuity in key leadership positions. Martins also believes it’s dangerous to have a key executive work in the final season of a contract because uncertainty about job status can prompt an executive to make risky decisions for short-term gains.
When the team originally hired Hennigan, it signed him to a three-year deal with a team option for a fourth year. Last May, the team exercised its option for the 2015-16 season.
Extension talks between the Magic and Hennigan or Hennigan’s agent likely will occur after this season ends on April 15.
Hennigan, who would not comment for this piece, is believed to want to remain with the team for the long term.
When Hennigan was hired, he arrived in the midst of a crisis: Dwight Howard, then one of the NBA’s top players, was demanding to be traded and was entering the final year of his deal.
Hennigan traded Howard. But in making that move, Hennigan declined a Los Angeles Lakers offer that would have sent All-Star center Andrew Bynum, a player who had serious knee problems and a problematic attitude, to the Magic.
Instead, the Magic agreed to a four-team deal in which they also jettisoned Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark and received young center Nikola Vucevic, rookie swingman Maurice Harkless, shooting guard Arron Afflalo, power forward Al Harrington, combo forward Josh McRoberts, a first-round draft pick in 2014 and conditional future draft picks.
Vucevic, now 24, turned out to have more value than most observers realized. Although questions persist on whether he can become an All-Star, he has developed into one of the top rebounders in the NBA and one of the league’s most gifted scoring centers.
The decision not to acquire Bynum turned out to be a masterful move. If the Magic had acquired him, it would have been an unmitigated disaster for the franchise. Because of knee problems, Bynum missed the entire 2012-13 season and is now out of the league.
When Hennigan took over, the Magic embarked on a total rebuild — a massive reconstruction project in which the team angled for the best possible draft picks in 2013 and in 2014.
The essential question surrounding Hennigan’s tenure so far is this: Was it necessary for the Magic to pursue a total rebuild?
There is no clear answer to that question, although it should be noted that, at the time of Hennigan’s arrival, the Magic were hamstrung by Howard’s situation and by a bloated, inflexible payroll.
When Hennigan’s tenure started, team officials knew the rebuilding project would take three to five years. For the best-case scenario to occur, the team needed to get lucky in the lottery in a year in which there was a potential superstar available.
When Hennigan arrived, the team already was locked into the 19th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft — a pick that didn’t give the Magic a chance to add a star.
By all accounts, the Magic have made wise, well-informed draft picks since 2013.
Still, because of circumstances beyond Orlando’s control, the team hasn’t yet acquired a sure-fire superstar.
The Magic won the second pick in 2013 and used that pick to select shooting guard Victor Oladipo. A case can be made that Oladipo was the best player in that draft — although arguments also can be made that eventual 15th overall pick Giannis Antetokounmpo or eventual 27th pick Rudy Gobert have the highest potential upsides.
Orlando didn’t fare well in the 2014 NBA Draft Lottery. Although the team finished the 2013-14 season with the league’s third-worst record, it wound up with the No. 4 and No. 12 overall picks in a draft in which just Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins were thought to be certain future superstars.
The Magic selected forward Aaron Gordon at No. 4 and, using two picks received in the Howard trade, made a draft-night deal to acquire rookie point guard Elfrid Payton. Gordon’s first season was interrupted by a fracture in his left foot. But Payton appears likely to be the runner-up to Wiggins in the 2014-15 NBA Rookie of the Year Award balloting.
After the Magic compiled a 43-121 record during Hennigan’s first two seasons, this season was supposed to be the year in which the Magic showed improvement and contended for a playoff berth in the weak Eastern Conference.
But this season has been a disappointment.
Power forward Channing Frye, signed to a four-year, $32 million deal in July to be a complementary player, has been a liability on the defensive end of the court, especially when he’s played alongside Vucevic.
From mid-December through early February, the team looked lost — so lost that team officials fired coach Jacque Vaughn on Feb. 5. Back in 2012, in one of his first key moves as the general manager, Hennigan fought to hire Vaughn.
Although the team has improved recently under interim coach James Borrego, the Magic hold a 22-52 record with eight games remaining and will not make the playoffs.
Many NBA scouts, coaches and executives say the Magic have a talented young nucleus in place: Vucevic, Oladipo, Payton, Gordon, Evan Fournier and Tobias Harris, although Harris is on track to become a restricted free agent this summer.
Still, there are legitimate questions about whether the youngsters’ talents mesh well together.
The next few months will be crucial.
First, the franchise must settle on a new head coach. Although team officials have been impressed with Borrego, it seems most likely that the team will seek to hire a more experienced coach with a proven track record.
The coaching search likely will be a methodical search that could last two or three months.
The Magic would be well-served to see if any playoff-bound teams part ways with their current coaches. The Chicago Bulls’ front office, for example, is said to be at odds with coach Tom Thibodeau, who is one of the league’s top X’s-and-O’s masterminds.
The Magic also seem likely to be active in free agency.
If the team doesn’t retain Ben Gordon, Willie Green and Luke Ridnour, and if the salary cap for next season is set at $68 million, the Magic would have almost $17 million in cap space if it receives the fifth overall pick.
If the Magic add two veterans who play well on both sides of the ball, the Magic could become a playoff team next season.
All indications are that it will be Hennigan who will make the key decisions — not just this summer, but for at least several summers beyond that.
jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
