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NBA Rumors: Larry Bird hasn’t informed Frank Vogel of Pacers future

ByJohn Buhler|
May 26, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird watches the game against the Miami Heat in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 102-90. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
May 26, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird watches the game against the Miami Heat in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Arena. The Heat won 102-90. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Larry Bird hasn’t informed Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel about his coaching status for next year.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical of Yahoo! Sports, Indiana Pacers team president Larry Bird hasn’t informed Pacers head coach Frank Vogel about his future with the club. The team’s end-of-season press conference is scheduled for Thursday.

Bird hasn’t spoken with Vogel yet about renewing his Pacers contract, which will expire at the end of the 2015-16 season. Vogel’s Pacers somehow forced the No. 2 seeded Toronto Raptors to a Game 7 in their first round playoffs series of. That was impressive considering Indiana’s roster isn’t fully integrated into the small ball era and has only two consistent scorers in small forward Paul George and shooting guard Monta Ellis.

Around the league, Vogel is highly regarded and is viewed as a top 10 coach in the NBA. He’s always had a stellar defense in Indiana and has only missed the Eastern Conference Playoffs once — the season George missed almost entirely due to injury. Vogel led Indiana to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals in 2013 and 2014.

Is Bird seriously considering parting ways with Vogel? He already fired Rick Carlisle, who continues to turn lemons into lemonade with an also-ran Dallas Mavericks team. Carlisle was an outstanding head coach in Indianapolis before Vogel. Now he’s on the short list for best coach in the NBA not named Gregg Popovich.

Vogel isn’t quite on Carlisle’s level, but can the Pacers really do better? The Pacers are always in the mix with Vogel as their head coach and, unless Bird is certain that their is a better option, the Pacers should re-up with a coach that’s good enough to make them an Eastern Conference Finals caliber team. From there, it’s all about getting a few lucky breaks and ideal matchups.

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