DHJ Quick Take: Jeff Weltman Calls Magic’s Giannis Antetokounmpo Talk a Compliment
Orlando’s president declined to address Giannis Antetokounmpo speculation directly, citing tampering rules, but said the attention reflects the talent on the Magic’s roster.
- What did Weltman say? He won’t discuss another team’s player, but he takes the dark-horse chatter as a compliment to Orlando’s roster.
- Why is Orlando linked to Giannis? Weltman and John Hammond helped draft him in Milwaukee, and new coach Sean Sweeney once coached him there.
- What’s Orlando working on? The front office is addressing roster holes around Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Desmond Bane, with no first-round pick this year.
- What’s next? The first round of the NBA Draft is Tuesday, 7 p.m. CT, ABC/ESPN, with free agency to follow.
Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman declined to address speculation that his team is a dark-horse suitor for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but he made clear he views the chatter as a sign of the talent Orlando has assembled.
Speaking Thursday after introducing new head coach Sean Sweeney, Weltman told the Orlando Sentinel that he isn’t permitted to discuss another team’s player, citing the league’s tampering rules. He framed the attention as a positive, saying “you can’t get into that conversation without talent,” and added that he won’t comment on the Magic’s discussions with other teams or their offseason agenda.
“I just think that, to me, I take it as a compliment that we have a lot of players that the league is interested in and that we could even be thrown into that conversation speaks to the talent on this roster,” Weltman said. “So, that’s my big takeaway from that.”
Weltman also declined to detail the Magic’s plans.
“Obviously I won’t comment on any discussions we’re having with teams or where our agendas are,” Weltman said. “I know a lot’s been written about that. But I think, like, you can’t get into that conversation without talent, you know? So, to me, I take that as a compliment and I know we have a lot of work to do, but we have a lot of belief in our team.”
Why Orlando Keeps Surfacing in Giannis Antetokounmpo Talk
The connections are easy to trace. Weltman and Magic senior advisor John Hammond were part of the Milwaukee Bucks front office that drafted Antetokounmpo in 2013, and Sweeney spent time on the Bucks’ staff working closely with him during his rise.
Those threads have fueled the dark-horse framing, even as Orlando stays publicly quiet. The Magic are among several teams that have surfaced in the Antetokounmpo market, with the Miami Heat widely viewed as the front-runner.
A Roster Built Around Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner
Weltman said the front office is working to solve the roster’s construction and identify the clear holes it wants to address while building around a young core of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Desmond Bane. He acknowledged there’s work to do but expressed belief in the group.
“We’re doing all the work that we need to (do) to try to puzzle the roster out,” Weltman said. “I do think there’s some kind of basic holes that we want to punch where we can improve the roster and augment the players that we have.” He pointed to the coaching hire as the priority, adding, “Obviously the most important part of this whole process has been bringing Sean in the right way,” before noting the front office has stayed busy on the draft and free agency in hopes of “putting ourselves in a position to have a good summer.”
Orlando’s flexibility is limited, though, as the Magic don’t hold a first-round pick in Tuesday’s draft and have their key players locked into long-term deals, leaving the roster largely set entering free agency.
The Sean Sweeney Hire and a Dallas Connection
Sweeney arrives with a résumé full of star-development work. Before his lone season as associate head coach with the San Antonio Spurs, where he reached the NBA Finals, he spent years under Jason Kidd in both Milwaukee and Dallas, helping coach Antetokounmpo with the Bucks and Luka Dončić with the Dallas Mavericks.
That background, and his ties to Antetokounmpo in particular, only added to the speculation linking Orlando to Milwaukee’s superstar.
For now, Weltman is saying little of substance about Antetokounmpo, but his framing left no doubt about how the Magic view being mentioned at all.
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