The New Orleans Pelicans could give the Orlando Magic competition for Scott Skiles’ coaching services.
Skiles has interviewed with the Pelicans and joined Alvin Gentry and Jeff Van Gundy as candidates for the Pelicans’ coaching job, ESPN reported late Wednesday night.
Skiles is the clear frontrunner to be offered the Magic’s job.
The Magic typically don’t extend a formal offer to a coaching candidate until after the candidate meets with the team’s owners, the DeVos family.
If Skiles soon meets with the DeVos family and receives an offer from the Magic, he’ll have to weigh whether he wants to remain in the hunt for the Pelicans’ job.
New Orleans’ job is attractive because the Pelicans have budding superstar Anthony Davis, the best young player in the NBA. Although many league insiders believe the Magic have drafted well in recent years, the Magic don’t have a player of Davis’ stature. The Pelicans also qualified for the playoffs this past season in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, while the Magic finished the season with the league’s fifth-worst record.
As ESPN noted, Skiles also has a long-standing relationship with Pelicans GM Dell Demps. Demps played for Skiles when Skiles coached in Greece.
Skiles amassed a 443-433 regular-season record and reached the playoffs six times during prior head-coaching stints with the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks. He earned a reputation as a coach whose teams played tough, energetic defense.
In Skiles’ initial seasons in Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee, his teams were hailed for playing above their talent level.
The Magic have been without a permanent head coach since team officials fired Jacque Vaughn on Feb. 5 and replaced him on an interim basis with James Borrego.
Borrego brought more accountability, gave the team more direction and was praised by the team’s players. But when Magic officials began their coaching search, they wanted to hire someone with extensive head-coaching experience.
Skiles, 51, meets the criterion.
He also is well-known to longtime Magic fans.
He played for the Magic during the franchise’s first five seasons, from 1989-90 through 1993-94. He became a fan favorite and compiled 2,776 assists, which stood as a team record until Jameer Nelson broke it on Jan. 7, 2013.
Josh Robbins covers the Orlando Magic and the NBA for the Orlando Sentinel. You can reach him via e-mail at jbrobbins@tribune.com and connect with him on Facebook at facebook.com/JoshuaBRobbins. Follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
