Orlando Magic: Top 3 performers of the 2019-20 season

1. Nikola Vucevic

It took us a long time to get here. A long, time. But finally, Nikola Vucevic not only had his playoff moment, but he did so in a way that even the Magic supporters who feel most strongly about not wanting or valuing Vucevic enough were won over. He was the second-best player in the series against the Milwaukee Bucks behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, which is saying something with Khris Middleton also on the court.

For years now we have seen Vucevic be the Magic’s most consistent performer during the regular season as they piled up losses. Last year represented a shift, as the team won some games and made the playoffs for the first time since Vucevic joined the franchise. He was also rightly named an All-Star.

But then the wheels came off badly in a first-round loss to the Toronto Raptors, with Marc Gasol and a number of others nullifying the threat of Vucevic with apparent ease. It was a sad way for him to go out personally. Against the Bucks, you wouldn’t have been wrong to assume more of the same was coming, especially with Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez on the court with Vucevic.

Instead, he put up a masterful 35 points and 14 rebounds in that shocker of a Game 1 win, and stepped up when the underhanded Magic needed him the most. It went under the radar, but that was among the best performances by a Magic player in the postseason potentially ever. When all was said and done in the series, Vucevic had averaged 28 points, 11 rebounds and shot an impressive 40.9 percent from deep on 8.8 attempts a game, by far a career-high.

Truthfully though Vucevic would have topped this list even if the Orlando Magic had never made it to the bubble. He was Mr. Consistent for them in the regular season, as he has so often been, his 19.6 points and 10.9 rebounds giving him his sixth double-double season in eight years with the franchise.

You can say what you want about the contract he received last summer (four years, $100 million) and how it may end up holding the organization back down the road. But for now, there is nobody better on this roster, with the offense orbiting him while also becoming an average defender. Something that did not look possible earlier in his career. This continues to be Vucevic’s team.