Magic Hire Jacque Vaughn

MONDAY, 3:43pm: The Magic have officially hired Vaughn, introducing him in a press conference today (link via NBA.com). According to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter), Michael Curry was the only other coaching candidate to meet with the DeVos family.

SATURDAY, 9:55am: The Magic are set to hire Jacque Vaughn as their next head coach, a team official told Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.  Orlando has issued a press release confirming the news and will introduce their new coach to the media on Monday afternoon.

Vaughn, 37, has spent the last two years as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.  While the former point guard shared responsibilities with the rest of the Spurs assistant coaching staff, he was not technically among the top three to sit on the bench as those spots belonged to Mike Budenholzer, Don Newman, and Brett Brown.

Magic GM Rob Hennigan has history with Vaughn as he was working for the Spurs when the signed the guard in the summer of 2006.  Hennigan cast a wide net in his coaching search, also conducting first-round interviews with Michael Curry, Jeff Hornacek, Michael Malone, Lindsey Hunter, and Brian Shaw.  Hunter and Curry both made the final three, but Vaughn was reported to be the frontrunner for some time.

Vaughn will become the successor to Stan Van Gundy, a coach who compiled a 259-135 record during his time in Orlando and guided the club to the 2009 NBA Finals.  Of course, Van Gundy's breakup with the Magic was anything but smooth as the coach battled with star center Dwight Howard and upper management.

The question now is whether Vaughn will have the opportunity to coach Howard.  Earlier this week, Luke Adams ran down the possible destinations for the six-time All-Star.

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