Orlando Magic: 3 reasons not to trade Nikola Vucevic
By Luke Duffy
3. Nikola Vucevic is the Orlando Magic franchise
It is ironic that for the longest time, Magic fans were looking for a franchise savior who would take them back to relevancy. It was supposed to be Victor Oladipo, but that ended up happening elsewhere after the previous front office ran out of patience in hoping he would take the leap that he eventually did.
Then there was Aaron Gordon. The guy who seems to be two games away from being two games away from putting it all together on a consistent basis. He’s the Magic’s best defender, and he certainly has his uses out there. He just hasn’t become the cornerstone that it was hoped he would be. This may be why he ends up being dealt, no matter what happens to Vucevic.
For a second there, people got too excited about Mario Hezonja, and Jonathan Isaac has been cursed with injury, despite looking like the future of the team. Through all of this Vucevic has been ever-present and somebody who the Magic have leaned on more and more. Kevin Durant is somebody who has always been an admirer too.
He’s been a walking double-double most of his career in Orlando, but these days that often leads to winning basketball. He’s become a dead-eye 3-point shooter (41.2 percent on 6.5 attempts per game), his passing is elite for a big and defensively he has put the work in to not be such a black hole on that end. At this point, Vucevic is this team’s everything.
From a marketing standpoint, he’s not as easy a sell as somebody like Gordon. An American guy with some iconic Slam Dunk contest appearances. But through sheer consistency, Vucevic has become the player that excites Magic fans. They appreciate the beauty with which he executes the more straightforward and routine plays.
Offensively he’s just so good both in the paint and outside of it. You can be sure he’ll even sell All-Star jerseys, even if the gear itself seems to be questionable. If you take Vucevic out of Orlando, you are taking out the soul of this roster, both on and off the court. It takes franchises years to find that, so letting it go when he does it all would be a foolish thing to do.