A week after former Orlando Magic coach Scott Skiles suddenly resigned, the Magic have hired former Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel, according to the Orlando Sentinel’s Josh Robbins.
Vogel seems like the perfect coach for Orlando. He is defense-first just like Skiles, keeping continuity in that area, without the same degree of a hard-ass routine that has worn thin at each of Skiles’s previous stops. Vogel is considered to be good at player development, and the Magic had the third youngest roster in the league last season, with a number of young players—Mario Hezonja, Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier—who could benefit from Vogel’s abilities.
The Magic have an interesting offseason coming up. They traded away one of the better young scorers in the league in Tobias Harris at the trade deadline, and curiously didn’t get a lot back for him. But with the trade—as well as sending Channing Frye to the Cavaliers—Orlando can now offer two max contracts to free agents this summer. Orlando generally isn’t seen as a top free agent destination, but perhaps some star or two will see their young core, Frank Vogel, and the lack of a state income tax, and decide Orlando is the place to be.