Orlando Magic Starting Five Breakdown: Nikola Vucevic
By Luke Duffy
About Last Year
Vucevic was this team’s best player for a number of reasons. To begin the season, Oladipo missed time through injury, and this team needed an offensive focal point every night. Vucevic stepped up, upping his scoring to the aforementioned 19.3 points, after posting 14.2 the year before. He did so while playing 34.2 minutes per night, third only behind Oladipo and Tobias Harris.
There were a couple of nagging injuries, yet he still played 74 games, a healthy return for a player who could only manage 57 the year before that. His Player Efficiency Rating of 21.6 was superb, good for 18th in the NBA, ahead of guys like Carmelo Anthony (21.5) and Al Horford (21.4).
When Vucevic is on the court he influences the game in so many ways for his team, and that neat little number proves that.
When he was on the court, Vucevic grabbed 18.1 percent of all available rebounds, while also taking 4.3 contested rebounds a night, good for 12th in the league. While that was important then, posting similar numbers this year will allow the likes of Mario Hezonja or Harris to spot up around Vucevic and get second opportunities at baskets.
On the defensive end, having a guy like that who is also nifty at passing to the guards around him means Payton and Oladipo will always be a threat on the fast break.
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