When the Magic hired Jamahl Mosley in July 2021, the first-time NBA head coach was tasked with developing a young team, setting a new standard for the future of the organization and building an identity that featured a hard-nosed defensive mindset.

Mosley did that and more when he helped the franchise rise from the ashes and return to national relevance under his watch. Across the nine seasons before Mosley, Orlando reached the playoffs just twice and felt directionless at times before entering yet another rebuild in the post-Dwight Howard era.

But after five years, three straight playoff appearances and a failure to advance past the first round, Mosley’s time in Orlando is done.

The franchise announced the firing Monday morning after the eighth-seeded Magic fell to the top-seeded Pistons in a win-or-go-home Game 7 Sunday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena, a loss that marked the end to a disappointing season and Mosley’s tenure.

Orlando once led the first-round series 3-1 against Detroit and had its best chance of closing out the series at home in Game 6, but blew a 24-point lead at Kia Center. With momentum swung back their way, the Pistons won their first playoff series since 2008.

The Magic still haven’t won a series since 2010 despite three trips to the playoffs under Mosley.

The 15th head coach in franchise history, Mosley went 189-221 in five regular seasons in Orlando. In early February, he moved past Doc Rivers (171) for third on the Magic all-time coaching wins list.

This season, however, brought greater expectations than any of his previous four – not only inside the organization but nationally. The Magic made a blockbuster deal and traded four first-round picks last summer to Memphis for Desmond Bane. The sharpshooter joined franchise faces Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs.

The hope in acquiring Bane was that he’d offer the long-range shooting the Magic desperately needed to help space the floor of an offense that lacked creativity at times. Orlando, though, needed two play-in games to reach the playoffs after finishing eighth in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Magic’s playoff futility continues. The previous two seasons ended in first-round exits. Mosley went 7-12 in the playoffs with Orlando, falling to Cleveland in seven games in 2024, to Boston in five last year after they advanced from the play-in and in seven games again this year to Detroit.

Signals for a rocky road

Early this season, there were signs that trouble could be brewing for the Magic.

The team started its season 1-4 before getting to 14-9 in early December. Then, on Dec. 7 Wagner suffered a left high ankle sprain that derailed his season. It took three attempts for the German forward to fully return and wound up missing 48 games.

In addition to Wagner’s significant absence, Banchero dealt with a groin strain in November. Suggs missed two different stretches of the season because of injuries as well.

Although injuries played a role in Orlando’s disappointing season and Mosley’s ouster, major issues persisted on both ends of the floor regardless of available personnel.

While scoring was up this year – the Magic tallied 120-plus points a franchise-record 33 times, they still ended the regular season 27th in the NBA in 3-point percentage (34.3%), which was only up slightly from 30th a year ago (31.8%).

On top of that, Orlando’s defense took a nose-dive, dropping from the league’s second-best defensive rating last season (109.1) to 13th this season (113.6).

There were also rumblings that Banchero was unhappy with Mosley, which began as early as November and continued throughout the season.

It reached a boiling point in late January when ESPN’s Tim MacMahon mentioned on an episode of the “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” podcast that there was “a lot of talk around the league” that Banchero and Mosley “might not be seeing eye-to-eye.”

Banchero strongly denied the rumors. He described himself and Mosley as “both fierce competitors.” Mosley, who also didn’t give much credence to the report, said the pair have a “constant level of competitiveness.”

The outside noise only grew louder when the Magic dropped six games in a row March 16-24, damaging their chances of avoiding the play-in tournament. Perhaps the low point came at Toronto on March 29. Orlando suffered a franchise-record 52-point loss and allowed a 31-0 run by the Raptors, the longest run in the NBA’s last 30 years.

Plenty of missed opportunities

Set aside the embarrassment of the rout in Toronto, however, and there were countless other defeats and plenty of collapses that put a spotlight on the Magic’s struggles this season.

The Magic lost 11 games this season in which they led by double figures. There was the Dec. 29 loss to the Raptors, 107-106, when the Magic squandered a 21-point lead.

There was also a Feb. 1 loss at the Spurs. Orlando was facing a tired San Antonio team that arrived home 24 hours later than scheduled because of a snow storm in North Carolina. Tipoff was delayed five hours because of the Spurs’ travel troubles.

That’s not to mention Orlando’s inability to beat the Lakers on March 21 at home despite leading by five points with 50 seconds remaining. Or a Magic loss two days later to the woeful Pacers. Indiana, on its way to a 19-63 finish, entered the meeting on a franchise-record 16-game losing streak.

Even on the final day of the regular season, the Magic could have secured home-court advantage in the Nos. 7-8 play-in game. They had a five-game winning streak leading up to the finale in Boston.

A win would have given them the play-in at home, where they were 25-15. They were facing a Celtics squad that sat its top seven scorers and only had eight players available.

Instead, Orlando fell 113-108. Leading at halftime, the Magic were outscored by 22 points in the third quarter as Boston poured it on from distance. The loss sent Orlando to Philadelphia, where the Magic lost by 12 points Wednesday.

Positives amid the disappointment

There were some bright spots in an otherwise underwhelming season. Bane had a tremendous impact on and off the court by shooting 39.1% from 3-point range and providing leadership in the locker room as a veteran player with postseason experience. Third-year guard Anthony Black blossomed into a young prospect who can defend at a high level and score on offense in a number of ways both from distance and around the rim.  That’s not to mention the team’s 5-0 regular-season record over in-state rival Miami (7-0 including the preseason).

But Orlando was inconsistent at best and had very little sustained success. Each time it appeared as though the Magic made a step in the right direction, they’d take two backwards.

Orlando alternated between wins and losses for 13 consecutive contests from Dec. 20 through Jan. 11. After the team won seven consecutive games March 3-14, it lost the next six.

It wasn’t just this season that included such dramatic swings. When the Magic won 47 games during the 2023-24 campaign, they dropped three of their final four games and limped into the playoffs. They needed a win on the final day of the regular season to finish fifth in the Eastern Conference, eventually falling to Cleveland in a thrilling seven-game series that boosted Orlando’s profile and was supposed to announce them as a rising power in the East.

Last year, Orlando won 12 of its last 18 games in order to end 41-41, but needed the surge after it sat six games below .500 entering the final month of the season. The Magic qualified for the play-in tournament and won to advance to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed.

Still, the Magic notched plenty of achievements under Mosley, who agreed to a multi-year contract extension with Orlando in March 2024 that was scheduled to run through the 2027-28 season.

The Magic won back-to-back Southeast Division titles in 2024 and ’25. They hadn’t won consecutive division crowns since 2009 and 2010.

How Mosley arrived in Orlando

Mosley came to Orlando after spending seven seasons (2014-21) as an assistant coach with the Mavericks.

Prior to his time in Dallas, Mosley spent four seasons (2010-14) as an assistant coach with the Cavaliers. Before Cleveland, Mosley spent five seasons (2005-10) with the Nuggets. His tenure began in player development and advance scouting, before becoming an assistant coach for his last three seasons (2007-10) with the franchise.

Mosley became a favorite assistant coach of various players on each team, including MVP candidate Luka Doncic, before he received his first opportunity to guide a team in the Magic.

But after five years at the helm in Orlando, his time is up.

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com