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NBA Notes: Magic reportedly land Vogel as coach

The Sports Xchange

May 19, 2016 at 4:55 pm.

Frank Vogel is expected to be the new coach of the Orlando Magic.  (Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports)

Frank Vogel is expected to be the new coach of the Orlando Magic. (Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports)

Frank Vogel has reached a deal in principle to become the new coach of the Orlando Magic, the Orlando Sentinel reported Thursday.

Vogel will replace Scott Skiles, who resigned as coach last week after one season on the job.

Vogel, 42, wasn’t retained by the Indiana Pacers after spending the previous five-plus season as coach of the franchise. He went 250-181 in the regular season and made five playoff appearances.

The Memphis Grizzlies were highly interested in Vogel’s services. The Houston Rockets and New York Knicks also had interest.

–Rookie of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks were unanimous selections on the NBA All-Rookie Team, the NBA announced.

Joining Towns and Porzingis on the first team are Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The second team consists of Miami’s Justise Winslow, the Los Angeles Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell, Denver’s Emmanuel Mudiay, Indiana’s Myles Turner and Sacramento’s Willie Cauley-Stein.

–The Toronto Raptors will again be without center Jonas Valanciunas when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers in Thursday’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Valanciunas has been sidelined since injuring his right ankle in Game 3 of the second-round series against the Miami Heat.

The 7-foot Valanciunas has averaged 15 points and 12.1 rebounds in 10 playoff games this season.

Toronto was no match for Cleveland in Tuesday’s opener as it suffered a 115-84 loss.

–Pat Riley expects a fun July in Miami, and his plan starts with getting on the right side with center Hassan Whiteside.

Whiteside’s contract is the matter of utmost importance to the Heat, Riley said. Also up in the air is the future of forward Chris Bosh.

His contract would only come off the books if he’s traded or forced into medical retirement, in which case the deal isn’t erased until February, a calendar year after his last game. Bosh said last week retirement was not currently a consideration.

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