Nikola Vucevic holds the distinction of being the team’s first foundation block. He will have to be a part of the change in turning this team around.
Ask the Orlando Magic how this season went, and you are likely going to see some heads droop and words expressing disappointment come out.
This was a season, they said back in September, for them to turn the corner. It was a season to show they belonged and that things were building toward something great. It was a season to establish identity and look competitive.
None of that came to fruition.
The coach was fired. The team limped to the end, improving on last year’s record by only two games for nominal improvement at best. The Magic were far from competitive at the end of the season. No identity was established.
In September of 2015, the same questions will be asked as were the year before. That is a step back.
“We’re not happy on that end that we didn’t do very well with our record,” Nikola Vucevic said. “We showed glimpses of what we can do. We had games where we played really well. At the end of the day, when you win 25 games, it’s not a very good season. But at the same time, we can’t be negative about it. We have to look at it in a positive way and take the challenge to improve over the summer and come back better next year.”
Vucevic was at the center of many of those questions back at the beginning of the season. He had not yet signed his extension with the Magic. That came just before the season began.
Vucevic, unlike any other key player on the Magic’s roster, has been part of this rebuild from the beginning.
He became the centerpiece of the Dwight Howard trade and the Magic’s first big-money signing. He is the first $10 million per year contract Rob Hennigan handed out. The four-year, $48-million extension the Magic gave Vucevic signaled he is a major part of what the Magic want to do (despite whatever trade rumors fans want to drum up or shortcomings they see in him right now).
Vucevic remains a pretty solid offensive player and an efficient scorer — 19.3 points, 10.9 rebounds per game last season and a 21.5 PER to go with a career-best 7.0 win shares. By every metric but rebounding and defense, Vucevic had a career season.
That, like so many of the individual improvements that occurred throughout the season, did not equal wins. That is what is ultimately expected of Vucevic.
That is the weight that will fall on his shoulders as the first building block locked in place long term.
“They signed me here for the future. That’s a responsibility I wanted, to be one of the leaders on this team.” –Nikola Vucevic
“Obviously I feel responsible,” Vucevic said. “They signed me here for the future. That’s a responsibility I wanted, to be one of the leaders on this team. Obviously with my play, I can do that. That’s something I have to do next year. Be a better leader.”
Vucevic said being outspoken is not part of his personality. It is something he will have to continue working on and improving as he comes into his own. He will be looked to for that leadership some more as a key component of this core — the third piece of the Magic’s “big three” which includes Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton, leaders in their own right.
For sure, it will be part of the next stage of Vucevic’s development.
This was an All-Star caliber individual season for Vucevic — at least before the All-Star Game when he averaged 19.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game — and the team’s record may have been all that kept him off the Eastern Conference’s squad.
Like everything else this season, the team fell short. And it all did not matter.
“At the end of the day, all my numbers all my games that I did well, if we didn’t win, it doesn’t matter,” Vucevic said. “It doesn’t do anything. The main thing for me, as it shoudl be for everyone else on this team, is to turn around and win. There is no other way if we want to be respected in this league and have big careers. The only way to achieve that is by winning.”
How much of the responsibility falls on Vucevic? Certainly not all of it.
As the dollar sign next to his name increased though, fans will expect more of him. That already occurred this year. At year three on the roster, Vucevic was here for the tearing down and will play a big role in the building back up. He shoulders a special responsibility that no one else on the roster is going to know.
He was part of the ground work for whatever this becomes.
And so the failures of this past season lay pretty bare on his shoulders. At least, a good chunk of it. He will have to be part of the change too.
“Obviously, nobody is happy with the season we had,” Vucevic said. “It’s not what we expected. I felt we had more than we showed. For some reason it didn’t work out. We didn’t do what we wanted out there. We can’t change anything, we just have to look to the future next year. We can’t come back next year and say we’re young, we have to accept the fact that it’s time for us to turn it around.”
When — or if — this thing turns around, Vucevic is going to be a major part of it and have a say in the direction this thing goes.