Just a little over a week after Scott Skiles resigned from his post as the Orlando Magic head coach, the team has reportedly found a replacement.
According to the Orlando Sentinel‘s Josh Robbins, the Magic have hired former Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel in the same role.
The Orlando Magic have reached a deal in principle with Frank Vogel, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) May 19, 2016
If you remember, Vogel’s contract was not renewed by the Pacers earlier this month after he led the team to a first-round playoff exit.
For all intents and purposes, this has to be seen as one heck of a hire for the Magic. Not only is Vogel one of the most-respected coaches in the Association, his past success speaks for itself.
In five-plus seasons as Indiana’s head coach, Vogel led to the team to the postseason five times.
The only outlier here being during a 2014-15 campaign that saw Paul George miss all but six games to injury. Even then, the Pacers were right in the playoff mix until the end.
While Skiles did lead Orlando to a 10-win improvement in his only season as the team’s head coach, major regression down the stretch put his job in jeopardy.
After starting the year with a 19-13 record, Orlando finished the campaign by losing 34 of its final 50 games to miss out on the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.
The young talent is most definitely here for Vogel to succeed in Orlando. Nikola Vucevic proved himself to be among the most-productive true centers in the NBA this past season, averaging 18.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, Victor Oladipo showed that he can be a top-end player for the squad moving forward.
Flush with a ton of cap room to spend on free agents this summer and boasting the 11th pick in next month’s draft, Vogel finds himself in a solid situation to turn around the team’s recent stretch of bad basketball.