Frank Vogel fired odds: Lakers could dump embattled head coach if Los Angeles loses Friday vs. terrible Magic

One disappointing California NBA team already has fired its head coach this season in the Sacramento Kings, and it's absolutely not out of the question that the Los Angeles Lakers decide to move on from Coach Frank Vogel as early as Saturday morning if L.A. is embarrassed Friday night at the terrible Orlando Magic as 5-point favorites. SportsLine offers odds on Vogel's future.

At 22-23, the Lakers are the No. 8 seed and currently would be in the Western Conference play-in tournament -- they are given odds of -390 to make the playoffs and +290 to miss. Keep in mind that "make the playoffs" means in the final eight of the West, not odds to make the play-in tournament. Los Angeles is given an Over/Under seed of 6.5, with the Over a -200 favorite.

According to reports, the Lakers nearly fired Vogel – who of course led the Lakers to the NBA title in the bubble in the summer of 2020 – following a 133-96 loss to Denver last Saturday, the second-largest margin of defeat in LeBron James' career. LeBron apologized to Laker fans on Twitter after that game. Had the Lakers been blown out again Monday at home vs. Utah, Vogel might have been gone but they pulled off a 101-95 upset.

All the good karma from that win evaporated Wednesday in a 111-104 home upset loss to a below-average Indiana team. Vogel benched Russell Westbrook for final 3 minutes, 52 seconds of the fourth quarter against Indiana as Russ was just 5-for-17 from the field and was being torched repeatedly. ESPN is reporting that Lakers management has told the coaching staff to coach Westbrook as it sees fit even if that means pulling him.

Clearly, the Lakers made a mistake trading for Westbrook instead of Kings guard Buddy Hield and that's not Vogel's fault. Neither is it Vogel's fault that Anthony Davis has missed the past 15 games because of a sprained MCL in his left knee. Davis is the team's second-leading scorer and by far its best defender, leading the Lakers in rebounding and blocked shots. L.A.'s defense has cratered without him.

Since Davis went down, the Lakers have just one victory over a team with a winning record: Monday vs. Utah, which is losing to everyone right now.

Friday starts the Lakers' "Grammy" road trip. The team annually has to leave Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) around this time of year because the building hosts the Grammy Awards, but that event was recently moved from Jan. 31 to April 3 and to Las Vegas due to COVID. There is talk that Davis could return as soon as Sunday in Miami.

The Athletic is reporting that Vogel continues to be evaluated on a game-to-game basis. Logic dictates that the front office/ownership will wait to see how the team plays when Davis returns before making any decision on Vogel's future. Then again, a loss Friday to the 8-38 Magic and all bets are off.

If the team did fire Vogel, promoting assistant David Fizdale, a former Grizzlies and Knicks coach, would be the obvious move.

Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Will Frank Vogel finish the season as the Lakers' coach?

• Yes -130
• No Even

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