Steve Clifford agrees to 4-year deal to coach Magic

9:24 AM ET

Adrian WojnarowskiESPN

Steve Clifford will be the new head coach of the Orlando Magic, the team announced Wednesday.

Clifford agreed to a four-year deal, league sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Welcome back, Coach Clifford! pic.twitter.com/F21uCxM3KP
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) May 30, 2018

Clifford, 56, flew to Michigan on Tuesday to meet with ownership from the DeVos family. A news conference will be held later Wednesday to introduce Clifford in Orlando.

Orlando president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman considered Clifford the right combination of tactical coach, teacher and disciplinarian for a young, developing roster.

Fired after five years as the Charlotte Hornets' coach in April, Clifford has a history with the Magic, serving five seasons as an assistant coach under Stan Van Gundy from 2007 to 2012.

Clifford takes over a more talented roster than he inherited in Charlotte five years ago, a young Magic core that includes Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon.

Weltman has been determined to find a coach with staying power, especially for a Magic franchise that has now employed five coaches over the past seven years. Weltman and Magic general manager John Hammond inherited Frank Vogel as coach upon their hiring a year ago and fired him at the end of Orlando's 25-57 season. The Magic have had six straight losing seasons, never finishing higher than 11th in the Eastern Conference.

Weltman and Hammond interviewed Clifford as members of the Milwaukee Bucks front office five years ago and were eager to move ahead with him before Charlotte offered its job to Clifford.

Clifford missed 21 games because of sleep deprivation and severe headaches during the 2017-18 season but has recovered, and Orlando's doctors are confident that Clifford remains fortified for the grind of full-time NBA coaching again. Charlotte made the playoffs twice in Clifford's five years at the helm, including a 22-game improvement upon his hiring in the first year.

He was 196-214 in his five seasons, including consecutive 36-46 seasons to end his tenure with Charlotte.

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