By John Denton
May 19, 2016
ORLANDO – Reacting swiftly and boldly to acquire the most accomplished candidate still available, the Orlando Magic have reached an agreement in principle with Frank Vogel to be their next head coach, according to various media reports.
The Magic have yet to officially announce a deal with Vogel, 42, but one could be coming soon between the team and a coach who led the Indiana Pacers to the postseason four of the past five seasons.
Stunned by the abrupt resignation of Scott Skiles as head coach last Thursday, Magic GM Rob Hennigan moved quickly to pursue Vogel. Hennigan interviewed Vogel earlier this week in New York City while there for the NBA Draft Lottery.
After Vogel’s seventh-seeded Pacers lost in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs to the second-seeded Toronto Raptors, it was determined that he would not return to Indiana next season. He reportedly interviewed with the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks about their coaching vacancies, but he ultimately chose the Magic.
Orlando also considered Adrian Griffin, the top assistant coach under Skiles last season.
Vogel is the winningest coach in Pacers history, compiling a 250-181 regular-season record in 5 1/2 years. Also, he is 31-30 in the playoffs and he twice guided the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Magic were likely appealing to Vogel because the team made a 10-win improvement this past season, including a late-season defeat in Indiana when the Pacers were still trying to secure a playoff spot. Orlando has a solid core of young players in Nikola Vucevic, Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton and Mario Hezonja and could have as much as $45 million to spend on free agents this summer to enhance the roster. Additionally, the Magic locked up the No. 11 spot in the June 23rd NBA Draft – a pick they could trade so that they could add more experience to the youth-filled roster.
Hennigan said that one of the things that he would be looking for in a head coach is someone who stresses the importance of defense. Vogel’s Indiana teams were known for their stingy defense, tough-nosed rebounding and willingness to deliver hard fouls at the rim. His teams finished in the NBA’s top six field-goal percentage defense each of the last five years and in the top 10 in defensive efficiency each of the last six seasons.
Vogel was an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Pacers prior to becoming a head coach in the NBA.
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