Flip flopper

Here's the paradox with elite coaches on the professional level: the more you have to pay a guy to leave his job, the more he liked that job. And when he's getting paid a lot more for the same position, on some level cognitive dissonance takes over: "If I need this much money to leave X place for Y, I must have enjoyed coaching at X much more than I'll enjoy coaching at Y." And this is reflected in their work.

Teams are usually better served giving a rising assistant his first coaching gig or someone hungry and available (basically, someone who would feel indebted to the organization for the opportunity) than throwing a ton of money at someone who's has success elsewhere. Look at Nate McMillan: win percentage of 0.537 in his first gig at Seattle where he starred, 0.323 at Portland where he took the money and ran. Or Mike Holmgren: 0.670 at Green Bay, 0.563 at Seattle against lesser competition. Jon Gruden: 0.583 at Oakland, 0.488 at Tampa Bay. The comparisons are even more stark when looking at guys who lept from college to the pros like Rick Pitino (0.814 at Kentucky, 0.411 with the Celtics) and Steve Spurrier (0.819 at Florida, 0.375 with the Redskins).

The Magic should run away from Billy Donovan while they have a chance, before he rereconsiders. He's already longing for Florida; the first time the Magic lose 3 in a row he'll mention it to the press and lose the locker room. They'd be better off with a retread who's had some success like Stan Van Gundy or Rick Carlisle.