The Sentinel also reports that Vincent has proposed to the Magic that they hire Jackson, who would work remotely from Los Angeles for much of the time. Vincent would fill a front-office position himself, with Shaw as coach and Scottie Pippen as the lead assistant. The Magic's brass is not enamored with the plan, as the Sentinel reported earlier this week, since the organization wants the person calling the shots to be in Orlando full-time and also to have experience running an NBA team.
Shaw is reportedly interested in the Portland job, too, but the Trail Blazers are leaning toward making interim Kaleb Canales the permanent head coach. Shaw has also interviewed with the Charlotte Bobcats for their open coaching position.
According to the Sentinel's Mike Bianchi, this is not the first story he has heard of the Magic pursuing a new GM and head coach.
"...first came the national story that Shaq was supposedly a serious candidate for the GM job and that an interview with the Magic was imminent. That, of course, turned out to be false, and Shaq quickly and publicly pulled his name from consideration for a job for which he never was being considered."
Personally, I am not completely sold on the idea of Shaq being a possible candidate for the GM spot because the first thing that comes to mind is Michael Jordan as a GM, usually just because he was a great player doesn't nessesarily mean he will make a good general manager.
So that pretty much brings up the question: Who should the Magic hire out of Phil Jackson or Brian Shaw? I say Shaw would be an easier target to get because Phil is obviously in retirement and you have to imagine how difficult it would be to try and unretire him.
I do like the idea that Vincent has that includes Shaw, Pippen and Jackson. Vincent's latest idea, according to SI.com, is Jackson working in Orlando one week out of every month and making six community appearances per month. As part of the package, Vincent also would work in the front office in Orlando. Meanwhile, Brian Shaw would serve as the team's head coach, with Scottie Pippen (who has never been a coach in his life) working as Shaw's lead assistant.
I feel that this deal pretty much falls in franchise player Dwight Howard's hands. If he doesn't like the deal, it won't be done -- simple as that. The only way this deal gets done if Jackson, Shaw, Pippen and Vincent can somehow convince Dwight Howard to sign a long-term extension with the Magic. If they can convince him to do that, then by all means do it.
The only realistic thing out of all of this that I believe can happen is Shaw could end up being the head coach of the Orlando Magic for the 2012-2013 season. We will see what happens in the near future with this franchise as things get interesting this off-season.
They have the 19th overall pick in the draft and a player that I look for them to take foward Perry Jones III from Baylor. It fills the need from the loss of Brandon Bass in the trade for Glen "Big Baby" Davis earlier this season. However, even with Davis, they need more size and Jones could also play the three as a tweener. I also like a player out of Vanderilt, Jeffrey Taylor, who is a small foward who can play some tough defense for Orlando in the playoffs along with also being ablet to hit the three.
This season shall be the turning point for the franchise of the Orlando Magic whether its for the good or bad.
Dedrick Hendrix is a contributing writer for FootBasket. He also writes at MLB Reports. You can follow him on Twitter @DedrickHendrix.
