Meet Nikola Vucevic: The Best NBA Center No One Knows About
With the Orlando Magic leading the Phoenix Suns by three with under a minute to go, Nikola Vucevic fielded a pass on the right side. Twenty feet away from the rim, he turned his behind to Markieff Morris and backed his defender into the paint.
Then, came the Vucevic magic Orlando fans have grown so accustomed to seeing.
A quick two steps (or three, depending on your interpretation of NBA travels) toward the middle of the floor. Then, a spin over the left shoulder. A right-handed hook shot after creating space. And it's a five-point Magic lead.
This has become the new normal in Orlando. It's just what Vucevic does.
Orlando locked up its starting center to a four-year, $53 million extension before the regular season started. The deal seemed reasonable when it happened, but eying Vucevic's improvement through the first 19 games of the season shows it could turn into one of the NBA's best bargains for a starting center.
Not many people saw this coming a few years ago, when he was an essential afterthought in the Dwight Howard trade after coming over from the Philadelphia 76ers. Now, he seems like the easy gem of the deal, one of the main reasons Orlando came out of that four-teamer with better pieces than any of its counterparts.
The 24-year-old has churned out an All-Star-caliber performance during his fourth season, taking on more of the Magic's offensive burden and turning into the team's leading scorer.
Though he is still learning how to anchor a defense, Vucevic is averaging 18.6 points and 11.7 rebounds in 35.4 minutes a night. And he's become one of the greatest pick-and-pop threats around the NBA landscape.
The rebounding was always there. Vuci Mane, as many call him, is as physical on the boards as they come.
During each of his first two years in Orlando, his rebound rate finished inside the NBA's top eight (among players who averaged at least 20 minutes a game). He currently leads the NBA in total boards. But now, he's improving in other aspects of the game.
Attaining skills to score is one thing. Using them often is another. And Vucevic, who set an at-the-time career high when he averaged 14.2 points per game last season, is becoming a primary option within the Orlando attack.
His usage rate is all the way up to 25.6 percent, easily a career high, along the lines of those from LaMarcus Aldridge and Al Jefferson. He's shooting often, and he's doing it more accurately and efficiently than ever.
That play against the Suns was run for Vucevic, who set up on the left side of the floor and ran off a screen to get open before receiving the pass from Tobias Harris. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn wants his center making plays on offense late in the game. It's a new privilege, a reward for his betterment. And opposing coaches are starting to take notice.
"He’s a heck of a player. You can’t just say he’s a good, young player anymore. He’s a very good NBA basketball player who is multi-skilled and a big target,’’ said Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, via John Denton of NBA.com. "There’s not a whole lot that he can’t do from the center position. He’s shooting the ball great and he’s a good passer. And obviously he’s a very efficient post-up player.’’
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers got in on the Vucevic action, as well.
"Vucevic is an All-Star and a terrific player," Rivers explained. "He’s probably the best player in the league that nobody knows. I don’t think you hear anybody talking about him, but when you look at his raw numbers, they are superstar and All-Star worthy, but nobody knows it."
And Doc's right. No one's talking about Vucevic. But we should be, because he's starting to put up numbers few other guys around the league are capable of posting.
He had gone for 25 and 12 in a game four times during his career coming into this season. He's already done it three times this year alone.
His post game is more developed. He can hit hooks with either hand. His footwork is smooth as vinyl. He goes up-and-under. But what may be most impressive about Vucevic's improved game is his play outside the paint.
The ability to step away from the basket is so important for a 5-man to possess, and how many centers are better shooters than Vucevic?
He's hitting 44 percent of his mid-range jumpers. He's shooting an even more impressive 50.0 percent in catch-and-shoot opportunities, part of why he's certainly one of the best pick-and-pop centers in today's NBA.
The Magic need that shooting, too.
Orlando may rank fifth in three-point percentage for now, but the Magic weren't supposed to shoot well from beyond the arc coming into the year.
Look at some of the young names on this team: Harris, Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo. None of those guys had much success hitting threes before this year. But the Magic have a few players who make up most of their long-range volume, and man, have they been draining shots.
Harris is up to 39.5 percent after shooting only 25.4 percent last year. Evan Fournier is draining 43.6 percent of his threes. And then there's Channing Frye, to whom Orlando gave a four-year, $32 million deal over the summer to be the perfect partner for Vucevic.
Having two bigs who can either pop or roll off picks makes life easier on a screen-and-roll-heavy rookie point guard, which the Magic have in Payton. And Frye, who is shooting 41.4 percent from three, has become arguably the NBA's toughest pick-and-pop center to guard.
Still, the Magic's young core doesn't necessarily boast a ton of shooters, and if Payton is going to be inaccurate away from the rim for the long term, it makes life easier on defenses, who can concentrate on the bigs and not worry about the dribbler 20 feet from the hoop. But that's why we could see Vucevic's game expand even more. This is hardly the end of his development.
If Orlando wants to move forward with a young core of Payton, Oladipo, Fournier, Maurice Harkless, Harris and Gordon, there isn't going to be much shooting from the wings. So, the Magic need to space the floor from the inside out.
Is it so inconceivable we see Vucevic take his game beyond the three-point line? He made 29 long balls during his final season at USC. And he's already showing the ability to sink attempts from just inside the line.
Orlando may need Vucevic to start taking threes at some point. It could be difficult to find shooting otherwise. And—for spacing reasons, of course—if he could just make enough so that he could consistently put up three-point attempts, he'd be that much more difficult to guard.
He's only 24 years old and is clearly still improving. The extension already looks like a bargain. Just imagine how smart it'll be if he starts draining threes.
Chris Bosh didn't hit threes consistently until his 11th season. Even Frye couldn't step out to the line on a regular basis until his fifth.
Well, Vucevic is only in year four. He's already one of the NBA's premier rebounders. He's already one of the league's best-scoring centers. The scariest part is that he's probably not done getting better.
Fred Katz averaged almost one point per game in fifth grade but maintains that his per-36-minute numbers were astonishing. Find more of his work at WashingtonPost.com or on ESPN's TrueHoop Network at ClipperBlog.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FredKatz.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current through Sunday, Nov. 30, and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference and NBA.com.
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