Way back in October, you may remember, the Orlando Magic were the feel-good story of the NBA. They started out 8-4, with double-digit victories over the Cavaliers, Spurs and Pelicans. Finally, it seemed, the youngsters in Orlando had figured everything out. That was not the case.
After that hot start, the Magic lost their next nine games, and have gone an abysmal 13-47 since then. Given that, it isn’t hard to believe the rumor Marc Stein shared in his newsletter. According to Stein, the belief around the league is that the Magic are planning to fire Frank Vogel after the season. Via Stein’s New York Times newsletter:
Orlando’s ongoing malaise, especially after the promise of an unexpected 8-4 start, make it a widely held assumption in coaching circles that Vogel will be dismissed after the franchise’s sixth successive season out of the playoffs.
The continued failure in Orlando certainly isn’t all on Vogel. It’s not like he had the most talented roster in the world to work with this season, and they’ve been beset by injuries to key players, with Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, Terrence Ross and even key rookie Jonathan Isaac missing significant time this season.
Still, it’s understandable that the front office would want to bring in a new face, especially considering that the crew now in charge — Jeff Weltman and John Hammond — didn’t hire Vogel.
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