Latest On Magic Coaching Search
SATURDAY, 1:25pm: Despite the Kings reportedly intensifying their talks with Karl, the Magic aren’t going to rush to beat Sacramento to the punch and hire him, Sam Amick of USA Today reports. Orlando still wishes to take its time in considering multiple candidates over the next few days, Amico adds.
1:15pm: Karl made it clear via Twitter that he is indeed interested in the job (hat tip to Robbins). “Love and miss the NBA rodeo!” Karl wrote. “It’s no secret I would love the opportunity to coach one more time. Love the skills and speed of the Magic and the great young players throughout the league!”
FRIDAY, 10:38am: Several league sources think Orlando might pursue Tom Thibodeau if he shakes free from the Bulls at season’s end and if the Magic haven’t already made a long-term hire by then, as Chris Mannix of SI.com writes in his Open Floor column. Several league sources recently told K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that the relationship between Thibodeau and the Bulls is “beyond repair,” though the Bulls have denied that. The prevailing sense within coaching circles is that the Magic are prepared to ride with interim coach James Borrego for the time being, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
Three different people have suggested to Kyler that Skiles won’t take the Magic job without personnel control, while one source told Kyler that Magic ownership seemed to be the driving force behind the appearance of Skiles’ and Jackson’s names in connection with the opening (Twitter links). Still, Mannix seconds earlier reports indicating that Skiles is a leading candidate, and writes that Jackson, Malone and Del Negro figure to eventually receive interviews.
THURSDAY, 3:55pm: Sources have informed Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that George Karl would be interested in coaching the Magic (Twitter links). In the past, Karl has stated his preference was to coach out west, but he finds the Orlando position an attractive one, Kennedy relays.
1:51pm: The Magic will consider Scott Skiles, Mark Jackson and Michael Malone to take over the head coaching job that came open today when the team fired Jacque Vaughn, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Assistant coach James Borrego holds the job on an interim basis. Orlando had yet to make contact with any potential candidates or their representatives before today, and the team has just begun gathering information, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. It remains a “wide-open process,” Wojnarowski adds.
Several executives speculated to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com last week that Skiles would become a candidate, and Broussard also identified Jackson among the “names to watch.” Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports called Jackson a “serious candidate” earlier today, and suggested Malone could wind up in the running. Wojnarowski also mentioned Vinny Del Negro, though it’s not clear if that was just speculation.
In any case, the Magic are looking for a proven veteran for their next coach, Kennedy hears (Twitter link). Many believe that Vaughn still has the capacity to become a successful head coach but think he would have benefited from more time as an assistant with the Spurs, with whom he spent two seasons before taking the Magic job, Wojnarowski writes.
Vaughn released a statement today that was complimentary of the Magic, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel relays. The ex-coach drew praise from soon-to-be restricted free agent Tobias Harris, who took to Twitter after the firing (Twitter link; hat tip to Robbins). “I want to thank Coach Vaughn for being a first class individual not only to myself, but everyone associated with the Magic,” Harris wrote.
And-Ones: Borrego, Smart, Draft
Magic interim coach James Borrego has played a major role in developing Nikola Vucevic into a dangerous low-post player, John Denton of NBA.com writes. “J.B. is my guy and that’s who I have worked with on a daily basis, watched the film with and talked about games with,’’ Vucevic said. “He’s a guy that I have a great relationship with and he’s a great guy. He always stays positive and brings energy to practice to pump us up. I know this will be tough for him because he was close with Jacque [Vaughn], but it’s on us as players to support [Borrego] and help him the best that we can.’’
Here’s more from around the league:
- Rookie Marcus Smart is beginning to earn the trust of the Celtics‘ coaching staff, and the team has shown improvement since Smart took over as the starting point guard after Rajon Rondo was dealt to Dallas, Julian Edlow of WEEI 93.7 FM writes.
- While the prospects for the 2015 NBA draft aren’t getting the hype that last year’s class did, there are still a number of intriguing players heading into the league. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com ran down the top 30 prospects according to the league insiders he has spoken with. The top three players available in the 2015 draft according to Howard-Cooper are Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
- Amid Syracuse’s subpar season, senior Rakeem Christmas has worked his way from relative obscurity to being a potential first round draft pick this June, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv writes. “He wasn’t on the board before,” one veteran NBA scout told Zagoria. “He’s averaging 18 points and 9 rebounds, he shoots over 72% from the free-throw line. There aren’t a lot of big guys who do that. He’s an example of a guy staying four years made all the difference. He would’ve made a mistake if he came out; he wasn’t going to the NBA. But you stay in all four years and work it…It’s interesting. I think he’s a bubble guy now, end of the first, beginning of the second [round].”
Magic Fire Jacque Vaughn
12:01pm: The firing is official, the team announced via press release, confirming that Borrego is taking over on an interim basis. The statement doesn’t mention Unseld, Gunning and Guthrie, the assistants whom Schmitz reports (below) that the team has also decided to fire.
“Jacque has been a trusted friend and colleague,” Hennigan said in the statement. “We thank him immensely for his contributions and sacrifices in bringing our team to this point, and we greatly appreciate his unwavering commitment to our organization. We have tremendous respect for Jacque and certainly wish him the best as he embarks on the next phase of his career.”
11:33am: The Magic have fired coach Jacque Vaughn, as Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports (Twitter link), though the club has yet to make an official announcement. A news conference is scheduled for this afternoon, Schmitz tweets. Assistant coach James Borrego is expected to take over on an interim basis, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Team officials by last week had made up their minds about firing Vaughn and were simply looking for the best time to do so, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports and Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reported then. That was shortly after Schmitz heard that the front office was “not at all happy” with the coach’s performance. Vaughn was on a deal that was to run through 2015/16 after the team picked up his option this past offseason.
Scott Skiles looms as a “serious candidate” to eventually take over as coach of the Magic, league sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Several executives around the league speculated that Skiles would become a favorite to formally succeed Vaughn, as Broussard reported last week, also identifying Mark Jackson among the “names to watch” in regard to the job. There’s a “real chance” that Orlando hires a replacement during the All-Star break later this month, Wojnarowski hears (Twitter link).
Vaughn, 39, was in the midst of his third season as coach of the Magic after having served a brief apprenticeship as an assistant coach with the Spurs. Orlando has shown only incremental improvement during each year of Vaughn’s tenure, starting with a league-worst 20-62 record in his first campaign, and the Magic are 15-37 this season, nine games in the loss column behind the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference. Vaughn’s career record is 58-158, giving him a winning percentage of .269, the second lowest for anyone who’s ever coached 200 or more regular season games, according to Basketball-Reference, as Schmitz and Sentinel colleague Josh Robbins point out in a full story.
GM Rob Hennigan didn’t give Robbins a direct answer when he asked Hennigan last month whether Vaughn’s job was safe through the end of the season. The GM did describe the coach’s performance as “solid,” but while the team believed a month or so ago that inexperience was at the root of its problems, the club had since become increasingly concerned not just that the team was losing, but how it was losing, Robbins wrote last week. The Magic put up a stiff challenge to the Spurs on Wednesday, but Orlando fell for the 10th consecutive game, the longest current losing streak in the NBA.
The Magic are also firing assistants Wes Unseld Jr., Brent Gunning and Zach Guthrie, Schmitz tweets. Borrego, their fellow assistant who instead receives the short-term promotion to the head job, spent time as an assistant with the Spurs and Pelicans before joining Vaughn’s staff for the 2012/13 season.
Skiles was last in the NBA during that same 2012/13 campaign, when he was fired as coach of the Bucks at midseason. The 50-year-old Skiles is 443-433 in parts of 13 seasons as an NBA head coach, with stops in Phoenix and Chicago preceding his stint with Milwaukee. Jackson, 49, the other name connected to the vacancy, was let go after a three-year run with the Warriors in which he helped turn the franchise around and led them to a 121-109 record.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.