{"id":747660,"date":"2026-05-30T05:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T05:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/747660\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T05:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T05:21:17","slug":"giannis-antetokounmpo-linked-to-1-east-playoff-team-after-latest-hiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/747660\/","title":{"rendered":"Giannis Antetokounmpo linked to 1 East playoff team after latest hiring"},"content":{"rendered":"

One Eastern Conference team\u2019s recent coaching shakeup may have made it a more interesting Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> trade destination.<\/p>\n

The Orlando Magic<\/a> on Friday hired longtime assistant coach Sean Sweeney to be the team\u2019s next head coach. Sweeney replaced Jamahl Mosley, whom the Magic fired after the team blew a 3-1 lead<\/a> in its first-round series against the Detroit Pistons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sweeney has been a visible fixture on NBA fans\u2019 TV screens of late for his work with Victor Wembanyama<\/a> and the San Antonio Spurs<\/a>. He\u2019s currently in his first year as the associate head coach of the Western Conference finalist under Mitch Johnson.<\/p>\n

A decade before moving to San Antonio, Sweeney was an assistant on the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> from 2014 to 2018. There, he developed a close, personal relationship with Antetokounmpo. Giannis even credited Sweeney for helping him build his \u201ckiller mentality\u201d<\/a> and turning him into a better person on and off the court.<\/p>\n

The Magic had already been linked to Antetokounmpo before the Sweeney hiring. The move has only fanned the flames of Magic fans hoping their team could spark trade talks for the two-time MVP.<\/p>\n

This @ramonashelburne<\/a> comment is especially interesting now that Sean Sweeney will be Orlando\u2019s head coach. Sweeney was a Bucks assistant during Giannis\u2019 early years and they developed a very close relationship. https:\/\/t.co\/GrdGYtfl8Q<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnor) May 29, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Sweeney isn\u2019t the only Magic official with ties to Antetokounmpo. General manager John Hammond drafted Giannis back in 2013, while team president Jeff Weltman personally scouted<\/a> the All-Star when he was still a teenager in Greece.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s all just speculation at this point, it\u2019s possible the Greek Freak could soon become the latest attraction in Orlando.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One Eastern Conference team\u2019s recent coaching shakeup may have made it a more interesting Giannis Antetokounmpo trade destination.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3779],"tags":[7,123,48,6,47,76,3883,11784],"class_list":["post-747660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando-magic","tag-basketball","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-magic","tag-nba","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlandomagic","tag-sean-sweeney"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116661851479983152","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}