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2015-16 Player Recap: Nikola Vucevic

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors.

By John DentonApril 26, 2016

ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic’s season was filled with some dramatic highs and lows, notably the promising 19-13 start and the crushing 2-15 stretch throughout January and early February.

That up-and-down play resulted in the Magic making a 10-win improvement over the previous season for just the fourth double-digit jump from year to year in franchise history. But it also caused the Magic to miss the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year.

Clearly, the Magic have many of the pieces already in place needed to put together a contending team in the Eastern Conference. Nikola Vucevic, Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier make up a solid core, while young players Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton and Mario Hezonja are filled with promise.

However, there are still plenty of holes in the roster that the Magic must address this summer in the draft, trade market and free agency. Expect GM Rob Hennigan and head coach Scott Skiles to be active this offseason in helping the Magic use their available salary cap space to recruit more talent to Orlando with the hopes of building Orlando into a playoff contender.

The NBA’s pre-draft camp in Chicago is May 11-15 and the order for the NBA Draft will be set in the lottery on May 17. The NBA Draft is June 23 and the free-agent courting period begins on July 1.

Over the next month, we’ll look back at the play of each of the Magic’s main players from last season.

PLAYER: Nikola Vucevic
POSITION: Center
NBA SEASONS: 5
AGE: 25
2015-16 SEASON STATS: 65 games, 18.2 ppg., 8.9 rpg., 2.8 apg., 1.08 bpg., 51 percent FG, 75.3 percent FT.
CAREER NBA STATS: 324 games, 14.5 ppg., 9.8 rpg., 1.9 apg., 0.9 bpg., 51.1 percent FG, 73.1 percent FT.
2015-16 SEASON HIGHS: 35 points, Feb. 23 at Philadelphia; 14 rebounds, Jan. 25 at Memphis; seven assists, twice, most recently Jan. 31 vs. Boston; three steals, twice, most recently March 4 vs. Phoenix; six blocks, Jan. 22 vs. Charlotte; 45 minutes, Oct. 30 vs. Oklahoma City.

WHAT WENT RIGHT: Vucevic remained a reliable fixture in the middle for the Magic, leading the team in scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking for a second straight season. He played his best basketball in December and over a stretch of late March and early April – Orlando’s two most successful periods of the season. In December, when he averaged 19.4 ppg., 9.0 rpg. and 3.5 apg., he became the first Magic player to average at least 19-9-3 in a month since Shaquille O’Neal in 1996. Vucevic hit two game-winning shots – on Nov. 11 to beat the Los Angeles Lakers and on Feb. 7 to beat the Atlanta Hawks. He also had three games this season when he made at least 10 shots in a row, making him the first player in the NBA to do that since, coincidentally, former Magic center Dwight Howard in 2007.

WHAT WENT WRONG: For a third straight season, Vucevic missed significant time with an injury. This time around, the center missed 13 games from March 7-30 with a right groin strain and during that time the Magic fell out of the playoff chase. Vucevic also failed on his mission to get to the free throw line more, attempting just 2.3 attempts a game. Too often, he steps off the block for jump shots rather than battling for position, costing himself opportunities to get some much-needed free throw attempts for the Magic.

FUTURE ROLE WITH MAGIC: The Magic wisely locked up Vucevic to a long-term contract extension prior to last season and he figures to be with the team for years to come because of his consistency and steady production. Orlando still needs Vucevic to be more of a leader, to be more physical and to be nastier on the defensive end of the floor, but his positives still greatly outweigh his negatives as a player. Coming into his prime as a player, Vucevic should remain a fixture in the middle for the Magic for years to come.