Inevitability struck the Orlando Magic on Thursday morning when it was announced that head coach Frank Vogel had been fired after two seasons. Vogel recorded a 54-110 record on the Magic bench and with the new front office team of Jeff Weltman and John Hammond in charge, the writing was on the wall for his dismissal.
Many around the league and in the Orlando fanbase will decry the decision, but there was no other possible outcome. When the Magic fired Hennigan and replaced him with Weltman and Hammond last summer, the rebuild started over and change was unavoidable.
In any profession, leadership teams want to make their mark on organizations and put their people in place. Most people would conclude that Vogel is among the NBA's top coaches for the results he produced with the Indiana Pacers, but he was forced into a shotgun marriage with Weltman and Hammond.
Vogel's ceiling for success with the Magic was saddled with some of Hennigan's final bad moves. Orlando loaded the roster in the NBA's small-ball era with a triad of bigs in Bismack Biyombo, Serge Ibaka and the incumbent Nikola Vucevic.
Orlando Magic Fires Frank Vogel From Head Coach Position
In doing so, Orlando made Biyombo the team's highest-paid player and traded away a 2018 All-Star in Victor Oladipo to gain the services of Ibaka for a half season. These moves to make the Magic stout in the post also stunted the development of the team's most promising current player, Aaron Gordon.
The no-win scenario for Vogel was only enhanced this season after a surprising 8-4 record. Injuries to nearly every major contributor on the roster at one point in time derailed any promise that was flashed in the first month of the year.
Despite all these unfair disadvantages, no one should be crying for Vogel. He will get some sort of buyout for the final year remaining on his contract and will likely get another major coaching job quickly if he wants it.
Vogel was handed a rebuilding team and he knew what he was getting into. It was perilous at best to join Hennigan in year five of a rebuild that had previously produced no results.
Regardless of Vogel's credentials, this marriage was always likely to end in divorce. The search for the Magic's sixth coach in seven years is now full steam ahead with names like G-League standout Jerry Stackhouse and former New Orleans Hornets head coach Monty Williams grabbing the early candidate rumor mill headlines.
It will be important for Weltman and Hammond to find someone who can bring stability to the franchise and restore winning ways. To truly build a winning culture and foster a positive organizational environment, everyone has to be rowing in the same direction.
Unfortunately, Vogel was not the guy for that job in Orlando.
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