Orlando Magic losing to depleted Kings should end Jamahl Mosley era

The Orlando Magic can’t lose to the Sacramento Kings on Thursday.

Obviously, they can. Anyone who has watched them attempt to defend the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers the past two games knows that.

So, more accurately, the Orlando Magic can’t lose to the Western Conference-worst Sacramento Kings on Thursday night and wake up in the morning without making a drastic change.

Jamahl Mosley is going to think I don’t like him. That couldn’t be the furthest thing from the truth. Seems like a good guy. He commands respect and has coached under and with some of the game’s best tacticians.

That doesn’t change the obvious. He’s lost this Orlando Magic team, which means they have no shot of doing anything next month when the playoffs begin.

The excuses are valid. Franz Wagner and Anthony Black have been sidelined, joined on the bench by point guard Jalen Suggs due to an illness over the past two games. Those guys are essential pieces who could have prevented Monday’s loss to the Pacers and would’ve at least given the defense a chance to stop the Cavs two nights ago, when they allowed Cleveland to shoot 60 percent from the field in scoring 136 points.

We were told excuses weren’t allowed when Magic president Jeff Weltman issued what was basically a “win now” edict this offseason. In mortgaging future draft capital for the next few years to last missing piece Desmond Bane, who has been good after a slow start, Orlando vowed to compete for a championship.

Mosley is known as a defensive mind, so his reputation is currently being tarnished. Many Magic fans have sworn off this group, having been sold on competing for a title and approaching April in danger of opening the postseason on the road for an elimination game where they would be an underdog against the Charlotte Hornets.

That’s not Chicken Little nonsense. That’s the Magic’s reality.

Magic slip to No. 10 in East a week after rising to No. 5

While Orlando’s season-long six-game losing streak has now dragged it down to 10th in the Eastern Conference thanks to a 15-16 record since mid-January, the Hornets have gone 24-8 since Jan. 15. The teams have identical records, but Charlotte won three of four meetings and holds the tie-breaker.

The Magic must finish strong to try and at least finish eighth, which would give them two cracks to make it out of the play-in tournament.

They must beat the Kings, who won’t have point guard Russell Westbrook in the lineup and haven’t had would-be starters Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray or Zach LaVine in the mix for weeks. DeMar DeRozan will be out there, but the rest of the Sacramento roster is extremely inexperienced.

The Hornets just defeated the same group the Magic will face on Thursday 134-90.

Check that, Precious Achiuwa may suit up after missing the game in Charlotte, but he’d have to be Victor Wembanyama to make a huge difference given what Sacramento delivered the other night.

Suggs may play, feeling better after missing the past two losses due to an illness, but that only ramps up the need to end this skid now. Or else.

Weltman gave Mosley a vote of confidence just weeks ago, but that shouldn’t matter. Orlando just won seven consecutive games from March 3-14. That shouldn’t matter either.

Pressure to make change hits boiling point for Orlando front office

If you’re Weltman, you can’t watch your team lose to the Kings in their current form, look yourself in the mirror and say, things are going to be ok. That would be gross incompetence.

Mosley has been on the hot seat. This isn’t the first win-or-else column I’ve written this season. Orlando responded then and must do so again.

Ironically, two of the names being discussed in NBA circles as potential head coaching candidates are Michael Malone and Taylor Jenkins.

Malone won a title in 2023 with the Nuggets, but a rift with his general manager led to a departure prior to last year’s playoffs. He was let go on April 8, 2025, 79 games in.

Jenkins had the 2024-25 Memphis Grizzlies 44-29 when he was let go on March 28.

There will be just nine games remaining after Sacramento's visit, with the Southeast Division-leading Atlanta Hawks, the Central Division-leading Detroit Pistons and the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Celtics all among future opponents. The Minnesota Timberwolves come through town for Orlando’s final home game, which might end up being the last time the Magic play at Kia Center this season.

We’ll see if Wagner and Black can get back to help Mosley save his job for good, but if he wants that chance, my advice is simple. Don’t lose to the Sacramento Kings.

That’s a vote of confidence deal-breaker. No one can possibly take this franchise seriously if Mosley is still around in the morning.