Orlando Magic Season MVP: Nikola Vucevic

Despite once again not getting the plaudits, Nikola Vucevic was the Orlando Magic’s MVP this season.

The Orlando Magic‘s season has come to an end and while the postseason continues on, now is a time for evaluation.

Although none of their players have come close to winning a league-wide award, that doesn’t mean their achievements can’t be recognized in house.

Which is why we will be crowning certain players with unofficial awards as we take one last look at the season that was, before turning towards next season.

We start with the Magic’s MVP from this season and while it was a closer affair than you might think, there can only be one winner.

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That person is the team’s “Mr. Consistent,” Nikola Vucevic.

Although the 26-year-old center had a quieter year by his own lofty standards, he once again led the team in his own, understated way.

For the fourth time in five seasons he averaged a double-double (14.6 points, 10.4 rebounds), while also leading the team in rebounding as well.

Although that was a regression on last season’s outlay in scoring (18.2 points per game in 2015-16), Vucevic had more scoring help around him.

He also found himself relegated to a role off the bench to start the season, as Bismack Biyombo joined the team and took some of his minutes away.

Yet Vucevic would go on to reclaim that starting spot (started 55 of the 75 games he appeared in), but played just 28.8 minutes a night.

That was the lowest number since his rookie year, although Vucevic’s mentality and calm demeanor on the court never changed, even when trade rumors involving him heated up around the deadline.

Instead, he added two key elements to his game that helped him clinch this award, despite the memorable campaign of Elfrid Payton.

The first was adding a passable three-point shot, which only figures to improve as time goes on.

The league as a whole has gone three-point crazy, but Vucevic was a top-five offensive center before he added long-range shooting.

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He went 30 percent from deep, a poor figure, but when you consider this was his first year extending his shooting that far, it was a welcome sight.

Vucevic shot 75 three-pointers (he had attempted a total of 26 in his first five years in the league) and by season’s end, you had confidence that the ones he attempted from the top of the key would go in.

Given that this team looked so cramped and disjointed to start the year, Vucevic spreading the floor like this was one of the key takeaways from a poor season for the Magic.

Perhaps even more impressive was Vucevic’s commitment to improving on the defensive end.

This was a goal he achieved in some style.

Maybe it was the addition of Biyombo that pushed Vucevic to really improve in this area, but the results were telling.

The eye test can only count for so much and those who base results purely on statistical output hate it.

But to watch Vucevic over those 75 games was to see a guy more comfortable defending the pick and roll, being a better help defender and switching when necessary.

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He also became much better at contesting around the rim without giving away cheap fouls, jumping straight up more frequently.

For those looking to see the numbers to back this up, his defensive plus-minus of 2.4 was by far a career high.

It was also the 38th-best mark in the league. Some turnaround for a guy thought of as a defensive liability.

It also ranked better than Biyombo’s 2.0 in the same category.

In case you’d forgotten, Biyombo is the center the Magic are paying $72 million over four years to protect their rim and do nothing else.

That fact alone is a personal victory for the overlooked Montenegrin.

Perhaps no comparison sums up Vucevic’s importance to this team quite like putting him alongside Oklahoma City Thunder big man Steven Adams.

Adams had a breakout postseason last year, with fans raving about his tenacity and rapidly improving offensive game.

Ask 100 fans around the league now and more than a quarter would say he’s the Thunder’s second-best player behind Russell Westbrook.

There is no doubt he’s talented and the playoffs last season highlighted this.

But Adams gives you 11 points and seven rebounds a night. His defensive plus-minus this season was 1.2.

He had a Player Efficiency Rating (league average 15) of 16.4. Vucevic’s was 19.1, his lowest in three years.

In the playoffs last year, at a time when he was gaining attention for his hard work on both ends of the court, Adams averaged six points and five rebounds.

None of this is designed to knock Adams, who at 23 years old continues to improve in this league.

But can you imagine if Vucevic was a member of the Thunder? Or any other team that plays on national television for that matter.

This is precisely why Nikola Vucevic wins this award, just like he would have done for the last three years if it were a real thing.

He is one of the most underrated players in the league and if he were on a better team, everybody would know just how accomplished he is.

He has also done whatever this team has needed of him for years now and he has never complained.

He even signed on to be with this wreck of a franchise long-term, when there are many teams that would love to have him.

Vucevic has been the best player on some terrible Magic teams and his numbers have reflected this.

He’s been benched for a newer player, but fought back to win his spot as a starter again.

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Trade rumors swirl around him constantly, yet all he does is go out and play consistently well whenever called upon.

You can run an offense through him or play around his tall frame and he’s still going to contribute heavily.

He also is the only asset this team has if ever they want to change direction (bar Aaron Gordon), which makes him worthy of this award in an entirely different way.

He is also the only real move that former general manager Rob Hennigan made that panned out remotely well either.

That is an achievement in and of itself, given Hennigan’s track record.

Next: 25 Greatest Individual Seasons in NBA History

Nikola Vucevic, we’d be lost without you and not enough people realize that yet.