Orlando Magic: Nikola Vucevic Is Not To Blame

Nikola Vucevic does not look like the dominant player he once was for the Orlando Magic this season. However, that’s not all on him.

The Orlando Magic find themselves in a 3-6 hole and are already in danger of being left behind in the race for the playoffs.

Although they battled back from an 0-3 start, to watch them on the court is to see many fundamental errors in the way they are playing.

This is down to the strange blend of players and new head coach in Frank Vogel trying to fit together as well as they can.

So far, there have been plenty of growing pains.

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One player who no longer looks like his dominating best is center Nikola Vucevic. The Magic’s best, most consistent player of the last three years, he is struggling this season.

To look at his individual play is to see a guy who no longer feels comfortable within his surroundings. His sporadic bursts of high level play being surrounded by sub-par efforts.

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In a loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday night, Vucevic posted four points, seven rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes.

This coming from a guy who averaged a double-double (in scoring and rebounds) in two out of his four full seasons with the Magic to date.

It’s easy to place the blame on his doorstep then, but to do so is to disregard the actions which led to this slump in form.

Vucevic was the Magic’s best player last season, and offensively he was one of the top five centers in the league.

During the offseason, Orlando added power forward Serge Ibaka, and gave a big contract to fellow center Bismack Biyombo.

The team also installed Frank Vogel as head coach, a defensive minded leader who on paper at least looked like the perfect guy to mentor Biyombo.

So through those moves alone, it was clear Vucevic’s role would change with this team. That was if he wasn’t traded before then.

Although he’s started every game to begin this season, Vucevic is playing just 28 minutes a night, by far a career low since joining the team (previous low was 31.3 minutes).

This decrease in minutes, not to mention the Magic trying to forge an identity as an elite defensive team, has seen his productivity slide.

His 12.7 points per game are his lowest since joining the team. Meanwhile his 10.7 rebounds each night, although a great number, are the second lowest since coming to Orlando.

His effective field goal percentage of 48 percent is a career low in a Magic jersey, and his free throw percentage of 47.8 percent is baffling when you consider his career average (72.2 percent).

You get the picture then. Vucevic, although still contributing each night, is putting up numbers that are well below his best.

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Even more frustrating is the fact that if he was just turned loose and used as he has been before, there’s no telling how he could influence this team as the season winds on.

The Magic could certainly benefit from seeing more of Vucevic’s offensive talents. After all, they’re averaging 92.3 points per game, the worst mark in the league.

Although they are holding opponents to 102.3 points per game (13th in the NBA), simple math will tell you if those two numbers remain the same, this team is going to lose a lot of games.

Which is why it might be an idea to sacrifice some of the defensive ideals they are trying to implement here (and which are not fully working), and go back to what worked last season.

Mainly giving Vucevic the ball more and letting him go to work. Bumping up his minutes would be an idea too, even if it meant taking some more from Biyombo (averaging 22 minutes a night).

This is a tough call given how much they paid to acquire his services this summer (four years, $70 million), but there are figures to back this call up.

For the season Biyombo has a win share total of zero, meaning his hasn’t influenced a win for his team yet.

This is unfair, because this is a statistic usually measured over the course of a full season. But of the Magic’s nine games so far, Vucevic has a score of 0.6 in this category.

Last season, while a member of the conference finalist Toronto Raptors, Biyombo had a win share total of 5.9, a career high. Vucevic’s career high in this category is 7.0.

It’s great to have two big men who are so different and can influence the game in different ways. But right now, it’s clear the team is being set up in a way that is detrimental to Vucevic’s core skill set.

If he is to get back to being this team’s dominant force, however, he needs to get back to being an efficient scorer around the basket.

So far this year, Vucevic is posting a field goal percentage of 33 percent, the third worst mark among all Magic players.

If this number could improve however, then Orlando would have a much better chance of outscoring opponents.

Couple this with their improving defense and the makings of a tough team to beat are there.

This is especially true when you consider, per NBA.com, that of all the qualifying line-ups the Magic have used so far, Vucevic is a part of most of the offensively potent ones.

In 145 minutes with the other starters on this team (Elfrid Payton, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Serge Ibaka), they have an offensive rating of 104.7.

Interestingly, although the lineup featuring Payton, Mario Hezonja, Gordon, Ibaka and Vucevic has only played six minutes together, its offensive rating is 119.5.

A small sample size, but further proof that if given more time, Vucevic can help make a difference offensively in a variety of different lineups.

So although he has struggled this season, Nikola Vucevic cannot be blamed for his poor performances for the Orlando Magic.

The team is trying to forge an new identity and move into a new way of playing, all while trying to shoehorn the abilities of Vucevic into that way of thinking.

But the numbers show that, if the team decides to once again embrace his strengths, they will have success in more games.

At the very least they should look to this as a Plan B, if they are falling behind on any given night.

Failure to do that may mean that a split between player and team in the near future may be best for both. Which is a shame, considering he’s been the Magic’s most dependable player for years now.

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Nikola Vucevic, it’s not your fault.