Orlando Magic: Thank you for everything, Nikola Vucevic

Just like that, in the blink of an eye and in the most unexpected of ways, franchise cornerstone Nikola Vucevic has departed the Orlando Magic. Gone to pastures new, to chase the playoffs with the Chicago Bulls alongside a second All-Star in Zach LaVine. It brings to an end a nine-year association between player and franchise, and all that is left to say is thank you to Vucevic.

It wasn’t always this way though. No, not for a long time. When “Vooch” landed in Orlando as part of the Dwight Howard trade to the Los Angeles Lakers of 2012, the organization was labeled a laughing stock because of their return for the generational talent. The two other players of note in that trade, Andrew Bynum and Andre Iguodala, going elsewhere.

Arron Afflalo was the best player in the moment that the Magic received, with Vucevic more of an afterthought having come across from the Philadelphia 76ers. That did not change overnight either, as fans who watched the roster vanish into the abyss paid little attention to who Vucevic was or what he was doing.

But that first full year with the Magic brought with it 77 games played, all starts, and averages of 13.1 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. There were obvious flaws defensively, and Vucevic was still a raw prospect, but on reflection we can see that he actually hit the ground running and showed us early what he had the potential to become. The roster was just so bad we didn’t care.

That didn’t deter Vucevic though, who continued to make rapid improvements with the Orlando Magic.

His third season with the franchise saw him average 19.3 points and 10.9 rebounds, as he continued to illustrate his importance to the team. Nothing else was going on, and you would be forgiven for not getting excited about a fundamentally sound big man who was making obvious improvements offensively,

The following few years were the toughest that Vucevic faced in a Magic uniform. With a front office that had no clue what they were doing, both Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka were brought in for some reason, with both pushing Vucevic for minutes. The Ibaka experiment was short-lived, but Biyombo hung around longer, much to the annoyance of everybody.

Yet Vucevic outlasted his fellow center, and by the time Biyombo was moved to the Charlotte Hornets in 2018, it was becoming clear that this was Vucevic’s team. Others like Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon had come in and tried to become the franchise cornerstone, yet through sheer consistency and obvious improvement year on year, Vucevic had unofficially risen to the title.

Once the runway was cleared of other bigs, was when Vucevic really took off. He had the first of what would be two All-Star years with the Magic, taking his game to another level altogether. With better teammates now around him, Vucevic showed that you could win on a semi-decent level with him as your best player. A role he never wanted and that in truth was not designed with him in mind, but which he took on anyway because nobody else would.

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At this point the cries to move Vucevic because of how he limited the ceiling of the franchise’s future were beginning to die down. Pretty much every fan, this writer included, had called for Vucevic to be traded at one point. The logic was simple, and it was true right up until the end. There is only so far you can go with him as your best player.

But with the end coming so suddenly, and with hope on the horizon in the form of Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac, the reality of saying something and then watching it actually happen can evoke two different responses in somebody. We had reached the point where Vucevic was pretty much universally loved by fans. The team could only be so good right now, but so what?

The worst part is that to begin the year the Magic looked like they could do something, before injuries dragged them down. We’ll never know now what Vucevic could have looked like next to a healthy Fultz, Isaac, Cole Anthony and Chuma Okeke, and that is kind of sad. But what is also true is that the trade with the Bulls has brought about the very thing that many wanted.

The Magic are going to take a step back now, but they do so with a bevvy of picks and young players now on board. This is the rebuild that was supposed to happen all those years ago, and the organization gets a second chance at that, under a new front office that up until yesterday was viewed as cautious and is now anything but.

So all that we have left to say to Nikola Vucevic is thank you. For everything. You came in to no fanfare and worked hard. You took all the criticism of being a bad defender and got better. You outlasted other bigs brought in to put your position under threat. You continued to give your best for the Magic every night, even when a lot of fans thought it best that you get traded.

There was no complaining when things didn’t work out, and really 10 playoff games and only two wins from those in all the time in Orlando is something that lots of star players would complain about. Which is exactly what Vucevic turned out to be. An absolute star. On and off the court. The one true positive to come out of a terrible era of Magic basketball.

He leaves as a franchise icon, a certain Orlando Magic Hall of Fame player one day, and with the well wishes of everybody. The Bulls don’t even realize what they’re getting, a top-five offensive big man in the league today. What an unexpected and oftentimes ugly journey it has been, and we wouldn’t have it any other way and would do it with you all over again. Thank you for everything, Nikola Vucevic.