NBA Swing: Coaching Carousel Sees Firings and Expected Firings to Come

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With the NBA postseason starting, the 2025-26 season has come to a close. The league has already started to see some movement on the coaching front, with shakeups and hitting teams and questionable second chances being given. As the playoffs begin, several coaches could be on the hot seat, and some are nearly guaranteed to be fired by the time the playoffs end.

Doc Rivers Out in Milwaukee

On Monday, the Milwaukee Bucks would announce that head coach Doc Rivers would be out with the team after two and a half seasons with the team. Doc would take over from Adrian Griffin during the 2023-24 season and would end up finishing with a 97-103 record between taking over and finishing the 2024-25 season. He would lead the Bucks to a 32-50 record this season, with his coaching being only part of the reason for the Bucks’ horrendous season. After 27 seasons of coaching, it’s likely Doc Rivers may have coached his last NBA game. Over the last 15 years, it has become clear that Doc’s coaching style does not fit the modern game, and even with the multitude of superstars he’s been able to coach since the 2008 Boston Celtics’ championship, he has not been able to coach another team to a championship win.

New Orleans Looking for New Coach; James Borrego Included as Candidate

Earlier this season, the New Orleans Pelicans would fire head coach Willie Green just 12 games into the season and would name associate head coach James Borrego as interim head coach. Borrego would lead the Pelicans to a 24-46 record in the team’s remaining 70 games, despite having a healthy Zion Williamson for much of the season. For Borrego, he worked with what he was given from the front office, which has not been the most dependable. Following the end of the season, New Orleans will announce they are searching for a head coach for next season, and Borrego will be included as a candidate. As of 2026, Borrego has been head coach of the Orlando Magic for 30 games, the Charlotte Hornets for four seasons, and New Orleans for 70 games, for a head coaching record of 172-229.

Sacramento Kings Keep Doug Christie

In a surprising turn of events, the Sacramento Kings announced earlier in the week that they would be bringing back head coach Doug Christie. After spending just under three and a half seasons as an assistant coach for the Kings, he would be named interim head coach after the firing of Mike Brown early in the 2024-25 season. Christie would go 27-24 in the 51 games he had as coach last season, before nearly cutting the team’s winning percentage in half with a 22-60 record this season. The Kings are expected to make major changes to the roster, giving Christie a second chance with a new roster.

Jamal Mosley Expected to be Fired no Matter Orlando’s Finish

During a livestream earlier this week, NBA insider Jake Fischer spoke on the future of Orlando Magic head coach Jamal Mosley, giving little hope that he’ll be around much longer:

“Orlando with Jamahl Mosley is almost certainly going to be making a coaching change, no matter how the Magic’s Play-In appearance starts with their game at Philadelphia on Wednesday, no matter if they make it into the Playoffs, there is a healthy amount of thought around the league that Jamahl Mosley will no longer be coaching the Orlando Magic next season.”

Mosley has just finished his fourth season as head coach of the Magic, his first head coaching role after a decade-plus as an assistant coach for several teams. In his 410 regular-season games as head coach of the Magic, Mosely has led the team to a record of 189-221with two seasons over and back-to-back playoff appearances in 2024 and 2025. In a season where many expected the Magic to be dark-horse contenders, the team struggled most of the season, mainly due to injuries, and landed in the play-in tournament. With the current roster construction being focused on championship contention, it’s expected that the Magic will be looking for a long-term candidate.