Orlando Magic eyeing Billy Donovan as head coach?

The Orlando Magic need a new head coach, and Florida Gators legend Billy Donovan may be the answer to their prayers.

The Florida Gators are looking to get back into the NCAA National Championship but that has been a lot easier said than done. It’s been since 2007 that the Gators have been on top of the college basketball world and it may be time for Billy Donovan to finally make the leap to the NBA.

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He’s almost 50 years old, has accomplished enough to be the most popular Florida Gators head coach ever and needs to hit success at the next level — assuming he wants to.

According to Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel, the Orlando Magic would be wise to pursue Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan as a replacement for Jacque Vaughn.

It’s unclear just when the Magic expect to cut Vaughn loose and fire him, but they’re hanging onto him as long as they can. Unlike the Sacramento Kings — who fired Mike Malone, installed an interim coach and continued to look for a permanent replacement — the Magic are looking to do things a little more cleanly.

Of course, there is absolutely no way Vaughn is back in 2015-16 and that’s where Billy Donovan comes into play. He’s burned the Orlando Magic in the past though, which could come back to haunt any contract talks the two sides may or may not have.

Still, he’s one of the best options out there for the Magic, who are in desperate need of figuring something out with their head coach. Vaughn isn’t cutting it for management when it comes to the development of the young talent on the team, and that’s exclusively what Donovan deals with.

A better fit for Donovan could be with the Philadelphia 76ers, who are essentially a college basketball All-Star team and need that sort of development.

Either way, the Magic will need to look for an option elsewhere if George Karl doesn’t pan out and Billy Donovan is perhaps their next best bet for now.

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