Andrew Nicholson had a lot of promise a few years ago, but has failed to cash in. This season was a disappointing one for Nicholson, one he could not afford
Andrew Nicholson was coming off a very disappointing, up-and-down season in 2014. The down really outweighed any positive and Nicholson needed to come into the 2015 season trying to prove his spot all over again.
Did he do that?
That is hard to say as Nicholson picked up where he left off — buried on the bench. And he never really got his chance back into the rotation until late in the season. There were very few chances for Nicholson to play in meaningful minutes. By the time he found himself back in the rotation, the Magic were just looking for anything positive.
Nicholson did have some good games. And did take advantage of that opportunity when it was given to him.
The end of the season showed Nicholson can still make contributions and still use his array of post moves to counter balance his still-improving jumper. Nicholson still has some basketball in him.
Nicholson though spent almost all of his third season on the bench, unable to get that chance. It had to be incredibly frustrating. And with Channing Frye struggling as he did, it was incredibly frustrating not to see Nicholson get his chance.
The Magic invested a lot in him obviously with a first round pick and seemed unable to find a good use for him in the end.
Nicholson’s end-of-the-season run brought some optimism that he can contribute again off the bench. His scoring is still there and his jumper makes him versatile option offensively. It is just getting everything together and improving on defense as Nicholson enters a critical point in his basketball career.
Next: The Good and the Bad
The Good and the Bad
Nicholson seemed to find his post game again late in the season. And it was good to see him get back to that part of his game.
But it was an uneven season for Nicholson throughout that saw inconsistent playing time and really no role for him throughout the meat of the season.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/9/2015.
In 2014, 89 of Nicholson’s 420 field goal attempts were from beyond the arc — 21.1 percent. This past year, Nicholson took 41 of his 190 field goal attempts — 21.6 percent. So Nicholson was still taking a few too many 3-pointers perhaps. Especially for someone who shot just 31.7 percent on 3-pointers this year.
Nicholson did not make any demonstrable improvement as a 3-point shooter. And he clearly was not good enough as one to be a full-time stretch-4 with his defensive struggles. This is why he went back to the bench.
He did do more in the post this year compared to last. Nicholson had 39 post-up possessions this year (1.1 per game) with 0.72 points per possession on post ups, according to NBA.com. That is not a huge number by any amount. Nicholson is still largely used exclusively as a shooter.
And he is not good enough of a shooter for that role. The thing that made him unique — his post game — was not being used and when he was posting up, he was not executing.
All that spells a player who is woefully underused and misused. . . or a player that is close to seeing his NBA career go away (Nicholson will enter free agency in 2016).
The last 13 games of the season, Nicholson saw more consistent playing time. And his production started to come up because of it. Nicholson shot 50.7 percent from the floor and scored 6.6 points per game and 14.7 points per 36 minutes.
It was these games that gave hope that Nicholson could still find a role with a new coach, salvaging even a little something from his season.
Next: Best Game of 2015
Best Game of 2015
April 15 @ Nets
18 pts., 9 rebs., 8/10 FGs
This last game might be the real reason we have such a good feeling about Nicholson heading into the offseason despite his being buried on the bench the entire season.
Nicholson did everything that he had promised throughout his career in this one game, pulling it all together in that big finale.
Nicholson scored four points in the paint in that game, so he was still largely taking jumpers. But like in that premiere two years ago against the Pacers, his ability to pop on pick and rolls and then establish post position and score on the low block makes him pretty versatile. Or it should.
The Magic have had such a hard time figuring out how to properly and adequately use Nicholson and his talents, this game seemed to be the ideal of everything.
Nicholson was aggressive with three field goal attempts at the rim and mid-range jumpers in transition. He was making contested and uncontested jumpers.
Nicholson is not the player to create a ton of offense outside his post ups, so making spot-up jumpers like he did in this game is a good sign for what he can still become.
It left a good taste in our mouth for the rest of his career, at least.
Next: 2016 Outlook
2016 Outlook
It is still hard to get a sense of what Nicholson’s future will be. So much goes into it.
The Magic’s new coach will have a big say in whether Nicholson has any future with this team or if he gets plopped back on the bench.
His skills are pretty well defined. All Nicholson can do is continue to make his jumper more consistent and improve his defense and strength to defend in the post.
Nicholson showed a lot of general improvement in the time he had on the floor. Unfortunately, that was very limited. So it is hard to say exactly where he fits in for the long term.
Nicholson has his skills pretty well established. He has to continue building consistency and proving himself, particularly on the defensive end. But really his future is going to be completely reliant on the new coach and whether the new coach see much use for him.
Nicholson is in a bad spot right now. He has very little value on the trade market and is still a year away from entering free agency. What he has to do now is continue to improve and hope he makes a good first impression. Otherwise, it will be easy to forget him and cast him aside.
It is a lot of pressure for Nicholson. But in a contract year with his career likely on the line, Nicholson has to make his presence known early and prove his worth quickly or else be made irrelevant.
Next: Final Grade
Final Grade
Nicholson was never given the opportunity. And the only conclusion was that those mixed results were also apparent in practices. Thus, he did not play very much at all.
When he was in, his results were mixed.
He showed signs of what everyone thought he could be when he played. He just could not get consistent playing time. That said as much as anything about his play in 2015. And that was not good.
Nicholson did not distinguish himself in his third year. There will certainly be no extension and there certainly will not be no guarantees about his playing beyond this final year of his rookie contract. This was the biggest problem for Nicholson.
What he showed at the end of the season was hope he can get back to waht made him a rotation player his rookie season. With further improvements defensively, he can get back there. The pressure is just ramped up to show it sooner rather than later.
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Andrew Nicholson could not get on the floor . . . at all. So it is hard to evaluate him in any real way.
Nicholson was never given the opportunity. And the only conclusion was that those mixed results were also apparent in practices. Thus, he did not play very much at all.
When he was in, his results were mixed.
He showed signs of what everyone thought he could be when he played. He just could not get consistent playing time. That said as much as anything about his play in 2015. And that was not good.
Nicholson did not distinguish himself in his third year. There will certainly be no extension and there certainly will not be no guarantees about his playing beyond this final year of his rookie contract. This was the biggest problem for Nicholson.
What he showed at the end of the season was hope he can get back to waht made him a rotation player his rookie season. With further improvements defensively, he can get back there. The pressure is just ramped up to show it sooner rather than later.