NBA Draft: Grading the Philadelphia 76ers’ last 10 first rounds

2011

The move: Drafted Nikola Vucevic

Nikola Vucevic

The next season, with the 16th pick, the Philadelphia 76ers would select center Nikola Vucevic out of USC. The beginning of Vuc’s career saw him playing an average of around 16 minutes per game. Back then, he split minutes with the likes of Spencer Hawes and fellow rookie Lavoy Allen. Vucevic was seen as your prototypical bigman who can crash the boards and get put-backs. However, he simply could not break the rotation as effectively as he would have liked to.

This was another coaching issue, as Collins tended to favor veterans over younger talent. As such, Vucevic had to “pay his dues” so to speak. That season, Vucevic averaged 5.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game. Those numbers are pretty efficient consider the fact that he was a rookie playing barely 16 minutes a night. His per 36 minutes statistics would end up coming out to: 12.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. Those are some pretty solid numbers for a rookie.

Eventually, Vucevic would end up being involved in the four-team trade that brought Andrew Bynum to Philadelphia, sending him to the Orlando Magic. In eight seasons with Orlando, Vucevic has averaged 17.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.0 block per game. He even made the NBA All-Star game in 2019. So, I think it is safe to say that, considering draft position and overall value, Vucevic was a steal. However, Philadelphia gave up on him too soon. Although, this was probably for the best.

Grade: C-