Frank Vogel Fired by Magic After 2 Seasons and Failing to Reach Playoffs

The Orlando Magic fired head coach Frank Vogel after two seasons on Thursday morning.

"We would like to thank Frank for his contributions to the Orlando Magic," Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said in a release. "We appreciate the sacrifices he made as head coach and certainly wish him and his family well going forward."

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the decision.

Vogel compiled a 54-110 record with the Magic; they finished this past year 25-57 to rank 14th in the 15-team Eastern Conference.

To some extent, Vogel is a victim of circumstance. He inherited one of the toughest coaching situations in the NBA when he took the job prior to the 2016-17 season.

Since 2012-13—the first year of the post-Dwight Howard era—the Magic had won the second-fewest games (103) in the league. Even worse, there wasn't any noticeable long-term plan to become a true contender again. At least the Philadelphia 76ers, who had just 81 wins over that four-year span, had a clear strategy in mind when losing a ton of games.

General manager Rob Hennigan had built a roster lacking identity and upside.

The summer Vogel arrived, Hennigan compounded that problem by signing Bismack Biyombo to a four-year, $72 million deal and Jeff Green to a one-year, $15 million contract. Orlando also acquired Serge Ibaka from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and the draft rights to Domantas Sabonis.

Within roughly a year of all of that, Hennigan was fired, Ibaka was traded to the Toronto Raptors and the Thunder flipped Oladipo and Sabonis for Paul George.

The Orlando Sentinel's George Diaz wrote after Hennigan's departure in April 2017 that the Magic should "go nuclear, and blow it up." Diaz also acknowledged, "We don't know who long it will be before the Magic get it right again."

Beyond signing Jonathon Simmons and selecting Jonathan Isaac with the sixth overall pick, Orlando did little in the offseason to drastically improve in Vogel's second year. That was the right decision, as the team didn't want to again make the mistake of giving out long, expensive contracts in the midst of a rebuild.

Ultimately, Vogel's firing could be a sign Orlando wants a completely clean slate. Typically, new general managers want to pick their own head coaches, so John Hammond probably already has a few names in mind for Vogel's possible replacements.

During his time with the Indiana Pacers, Vogel didn't necessarily show he's the right coach for a team facing a complete overhaul. After replacing Jim O'Brien midway through the 2010-11 season, he had the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs, and they largely remained a postseason mainstay.

In that sense, this move can benefit all parties. The Magic can hire a coach who fits better with their timeline, and Vogel can join a team where he may be able to at least sniff the playoffs. He should be on the short list for any franchise with postseason aspirations in 2018-19.