The Orlando Magic did a lot this offseason, including some things that earned plenty of criticism (yes, including my own). They've effectively turned a 12-deep team of young, talented players into a roster built with the present in mind — though winning is no guarantee.

Still, the hardest move to criticize was the hiring of coach Frank Vogel after Scott Skiles' surprise retirement. Vogel was let go by the Pacers because team president Larry Bird felt the locker room needed a new voice — even after an injury-riddled 45-37 playoff season.

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Vogel now takes over the still-young Magic, who have a compelling front court thanks to the offseason additions of Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo to go alongside Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon. They played their preseason opener Sunday night, losing 102-97 to the Grizzlies, but they showed potential and versatility in their pairings.

Sporting News spoke with Vogel by phone last week about his impact on those decisions, his vision for the team and those players, as well as about his old team and one former player. What follows is a transcript of the interview:

SN: Orlando did a lot this offseason, and you were working with a new front office, new GM. How much input did you have on all the personnel moves of this offseason?

Vogel: Rob Hennigan and I met a lot about all the moves that we made this summer and the general direction of where we're going. Like anything in terms of the GM-head coach relationship, he runs past me all the ideas and visions of what he wants to do and sees what I thought about it. And he makes the final decision.

SN: Rob's been in this job for a few years now, but when he took over, he was the youngest GM in the NBA. And you're coming from a place where your team president was one of the five or 10 greatest players of all time. I'm wondering how different the dynamic is in terms of power now that you're not sitting across the table from Larry Bird, you're sitting across the table from a guy who's actually younger than you.

Vogel: Yeah, but I don't really look at it like that. He's the guy who studies personnel and all the analytics that are involved and saw the pieces that are going to fit and understands the market for free agency and all those types of things that coaches don't really concentrate deeply on. So I just, like I did with Larry, treat him with respect and the understanding that, regardless of his age, that he's a guy that works his tail off, knows what he's doing and has great knowledge and intelligence about the moves that are being made. So, you know, I give my opinion on certain things, but again, we just collaborate on what was best, and he would make the final call.

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SN: Have you ever seen up close two shot-blockers like Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo being paired, and how do you think that's going to work?

Vogel: I'm not sure what experience I've had with two blockers of this quality on the same team. But certainly with Serge Ibaka's abilities offensively from the perimeter, you have two you guys that will fit each other. One can roll to the basket, one with the ability to roll but also stretch floor to the 3-point line. It has the chance to really work. And if they can play together offensively, then defensively, you have a potentially potent combination of shot-blockers.

SN: One of the interesting things with Serge over the last few years, as his game has moved out to the perimeter, his numbers have declined. His statistics look a bit worse than they were three years ago. Now, I'm of the opinion that's not him falling off as much as his role changing. But I'm wondering if you're expecting his numbers to shoot back up. How do you expect to use him compared to how the Thunder were using him?

Vogel: Well, obviously we have a very, very different team than he played on in Oklahoma City with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook out there sharing the bulk of the scoring load. He was a floor-spacer. We're going to ask him to do more with our team. But it's a very different dynamic. I don't think his dip in numbers was because of Serge. I think it was because of his role. It's not something I'm real concerned with. I'm just looking forward to taking advantage of his talent and seeing how it can fit in with our club.

SN: With your roster just being so across-the-board big — you have the three big men, along with Aaron Gordon and Jeff Green at the small forward — how do you see that fitting in with the modern trends, with small ball? Last season, you went through a philosophical shift with the Pacers of going small, of shifting your entire roster to be this small-ball lineup, and now you're back with one of the biggest teams in the NBA.

Vogel: Yeah, I think you can play big in today's NBA as long as you have defensive versatility. And we have two of the best switching bigs in the NBA in Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka. So I don't think we compromise our athleticism by playing with the size we're going to play with this year.

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SN: What's Aaron's future, in your opinion? Is there an NBA player, past or present, who he reminds you of and who you think he can emulate?

Vogel: It's tough to say where Aaron's going to go. He's obviously a big-time, big-time athlete with a good feel for the game and a great attitude and great work ethic. So really the sky is the limit. The canvas is blank. We can create it however we want to. On this team, with so many big guys, he's going to play perimeter basketball and really learn that role of being a long small forward. We're going to put the ball in his hands a ton and see what he can do offensively.

SN: When he was drafted, most people thought of him more as a combo forward or even a full-time stretch four in the modern NBA. It seems just from a minutes perspective that he will be a three. Do you think a position is important to a player like him? Does it help or hurt with matchups?

Vogel: I think positions still matter in today's NBA. But he's comfortable playing both. You're correct in your assessment that he's going to be playing mostly small forward on this team. That's something I'm excited about because I've always been able to build some really solid defenses, and the foundation of those teams was defensive length and athleticism. This is what we're going to have with this club, with either Vuc or Bismack Biyombo at the five and Serge Ibaka at the four and Aaron Gordon at the three, you've got a really long, athletic front court, which I think is necessary if you want to be a great defensive team.

SN: A year and a half ago, maybe two years ago, the Magic had an overload of young players. The whole roster. It was almost too young to properly function. Now, they clearly spent this offseason — including the hiring of you — with the goal of veterans, experience, let's make this happen now. Do you think that timeline is realistic? What is the timeline for this team? What's the ceiling this year and moving forward?

Vogel: I don't know what the timeline is in terms of how much we can grow and how fast. But certainly, they haven't made the playoffs in a few years, and we all believe we have the ability to do it. Things have to fall our way in some ways. We're all hopeful that we get into the playoffs this year and build something around defense and rebounding that has a chance to succeed in the playoffs, not just make the playoffs. That's definitely what we've stated as our goal. We want to get in the playoffs this year. Hopefully, even greater.

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SN: With the Pacers, you made your name on the defensive end. This team has so much defensive potential, as you point out, and if you guys are going to reach that goal, you are going to need to focus on defense. Are you more comfortable at this point in your career at this stage in your career with a defense-oriented team? From your personal perspective, is it nice coming back to a team that's got really good defensive potential?

Vogel: It is a bit comforting because it's what I've known in Indiana. We had defensively talented teams, and this team is definitely more defensively talented than it is offensively talented, but we've got the ability to score the ball as well. Like I said, I believe winning starts at the defensive end, but this group has the ability to put out something on the floor that could be one of the best defensive teams in the league, if we all come together.

SN: It's interesting — I know you mostly want to talk about the Magic — but it's interesting that the Pacers went the complete opposite direction this offseason. They've got this very offense-heavy lineup. From the outside now, what are your thoughts on what they've done?

Vogel: Well, they've got some firepower. There's no doubt about it. I think Myles Turner is a big, big key on that team. How well he develops in his second year will be a big factor in how far they go, but adding Jeff Teague and having Monta Ellis come back alongside Paul George and Thaddeus Young — they have a chance to be a great running team. Al Jefferson and Aaron Brooks off the bench give them a lot of firepower. So they're going to be deep, they're going to be athletic, and they're going to be a great team.

SN: One last question before I let you go. I'm based in Charlotte, and one of the questions here with the Hornets has been, what's happened to Roy Hibbert over the last year and a half, last two years, where he's gone from an All-Star to having to sign for a sign a third of what Ian Mahinmi signed for this offseason? You coached him for so long. In your opinion, is it just him being used wrong? Is he being taken for granted? What do you think has happened to Roy Hibbert?

Vogel: I think players have ups and downs in their careers. Roy's had some good moments, and he's been down a little bit. But I think part of it is not anything to do with Roy Hibbert. It's just a shift in how the league plays. When you're playing with five 3-point shooters, it makes it very difficult for a guy like Roy to have the success that he had in the past. I don't think a lot of it is centered around Roy as much as what's changed around him.

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SN: I know I said last question, but following up on that, how does that affect Nikola and Bismack for you — two guys who are not thought of as perimeter players?

Vogel: I think both of our big guys are going to have success like they've always had. Bismack is comfortable defensively inside and out. He's one of the best switching bigs in the league. And Vuc has the ability like a lot of guards to shoot the ball from the perimeter while having the ability to go down low against smaller defenders as well.

SN: Thank you very much. Have a good day.

Vogel: OK, you got it. Take care.