Magic president: No reason to 'dismantle' team despite loss - ESPN

Orlando Magic president Jeff Weltman said it was time to make a change at head coach and fire Jamahl Mosley but he does not want to «dismantle» the roster based on how the season came crashing down in their first-round loss to Detroit.

One day after blowing a 3-1 series lead, including a 24-point third-quarter lead in Game 6 to fall in seven games to the top-seeded Pistons, Weltman fired Mosley after five seasons as the head coach.

But Weltman said Monday that, with a healthy Franz Wagner, the Magic showed what they can do when whole. Wagner suffered a strained right calf in Game 4 and the Magic dropped three straight without their star forward.

«That's a gut punch,» Weltman said of the Magic's first-round loss, specifically their Game 6 second-half collapse. «That is going to remain with our team this summer. We know that a lot of our season will be filtered through that lens. What happened? I can point to a lot of things. I think what happened was we were up 3-1 against the number one team in the East and then Franz got hurt. It altered the series.

»… When healthy, we were top five [on] defense and top 10 [on] offense… I think we saw some of what we had hoped to see [against Detroit]. So I don't want to tear this thing down and dismantle it because of the way it ended and certainly one half."

Mosley, 47, was hired to help the Magic rebuild and develop its young prospects. He led Orlando to the playoffs the last three seasons but failed to get out of the first round in each of those trips.

«It just seems like it is time for a new perspective,» Weltman said. «Maybe a fresh voice and for all of us to get a different vantage point on what is going on with our team.»

The Magic pushed their chips in last offseason when they