Nikola Vucevic holds special responsibility for Orlando Magic

Nikola Vucevic has seen it all for the Orlando Magic in five years. As the team’s Playoff hopes are crumbling, Vucevic may bear a special responsibility.

Nikola Vucevic finally returned to the starting lineup for the Orlando Magic and played like it meant something to him.

Quickly his scoring seemed to bounce back. The activity on defense that has been a surprise and a staple of his 2017 season remained high. The Magic played well — about as well as they have played for the last month of the season — with Vucevic anchoring the starting lineup.

After scoring a season-high 30 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Vucevic was somewhat blunt about his return to the starting lineup with FOX Sports Florida. He said he felt like he did not deserve to be benched — something he said when he initially went to the bench too — but he wanted to remain in Orlando and do what was necessary for the team.

He was a team player. And he was sure to make the most of his opportunity.

“I was just trying to stay a pro,” Vucevic said to Dante Marchitelli of FOX Sports Florida (see video above). “It was a difficult situation for me and something I felt was unfair toward me and I didn’t deserve to be in. I like Orlando and I wanted to do the right thing for this team. I’m glad I’m back in the starting lineup and I hope I stay there.”

Vucevic has been a bit touchy about the subject of his role. He said in the summer he believed he was the starter. He was not backing down from the new players the Magic brought in. He played his role when the team asked him to come off the bench.

His return to the starting lineup brought with it some renewed energy.

In the four games since Vucevic returned to the starting lineup, he is averaging 19.5 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 58.1 percent from the floor. Those are more in line with his career numbers in Orlando as opposed to his current year averages of 13.8 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game and 46.8 percent shooting.

Vucevic has struggled to find his fit as much as anyone on this mismatched roster. The additions of Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo squarely put him in the crosshairs.

For all that he has given the Magic — he climbed into the top 10 on the all-time Magic scoring list Monday — it feels like Vucevic would remain largely unappreciated.

Despite his movement around the rotation and all this noise surrounding him and his future with the team, it is also clear Vucevic has a lot of roots in Orlando and wants to be here and succeed in Orlando. In a world of free agents moving around and “asset management” that has value.

Vucevic is the only player on this current Magic roster who was there from the beginning and ducked his head and did the work no matter what it is the franchise has asked of him.

More than anyone, he wants to see it succeed.

“That is the mindset we have to have [to make the Playoffs],” Nikola Vucevic said during media day in September. “Especially me, I have been here for a fifth year. We haven’t made the playoffs yet. We went through the whole rebuilding thing. Last year was the most disappointing, because I thought we could make it. This year, the team obviously made a lot of moves. Our goal is to make the Playoffs. I think we have the pieces to achieve it. It’s not going to be easy, a lot of teams in the East got better.”

Vucevic has been part of every painstaking loss and moment the last four years. This season was supposed to be the year there was light at the end of the tunnel.

Vucevic’s numbers are down across the board, a sacrifice he has made both because of new teammates and because of a new coaching staff figuring out how best to use him. The last week or so since returning to the starting lineup has been vintage Vucevic on offense.

Where Vucevic has made the biggest gains are on defense. His defensive box plus-minus is a career best 2.6, meaning the team is 2.6 points per 100 possessions better on defense because of his contributions on that end. His field goal percentage allowed at the rim improved from 54.0 to 52.4 percent this year.

No one is confusing Vucevic with an elite defender, but he is certainly far more passable this year than he has ever been. He, at least, pairs better with Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo than those two do together.

With Ibaka and Biyombo in the lineup, Vucevic has relied more on his jump shot than ever before. He is making 39.6 percent of his jump shots, according to NBA.com, and 56.0 percent of his shots are jumpers. He is taking more jumpers proportionally than last year and shooting a worse percent.

His post-ups are also down. He is averaging 3.6 post-ups per game and scoring 0.82 points per possession. Last year, he averaged 5.4, scoring 0.93 points per possession.

That is perhaps a product of the changing roster.

Vucevic’s role within the team has changed dramatically. And he has struggled. The new lineups have seen Vucevic return to much the same role he had in his previous seasons with the Magic. And his scoring has rebounded accordingly.

The question is whether the wins will follow.

The Magic’s season so far has fallen short of those lofty goals. As the trade deadline approaches, it would appear Vucevic’s name will pop up frequently. He has a very team-friendly deal that will pay him $25 million in the next two years. That is a bargain for someone who can still get a double double off the bench.

Vucevic, though, would rather make his mark in Orlando.

It is possibly why starting for this franchise mattered so much to him. It was not just a matter of professional pride and competition, but a sign of the responsibility he feels to and for this franchise. This is what he wants to be a part of for this franchise.

“It drives me a lot the past couple years because I have been here in Orlando the longest,” Vucevic said at media day. “I’m the only guy left from everything that happened since the Dwight deal. For me, it’s big to get to the playoffs. To be the guy who started from zero to rebuilding everything to getting this city back to the Playoffs would mean a lot to me.”

Vucevic is taking his turn trying to do what he can to propel the Magic toward that goal. Whether Vucevic will be the one to take the Magic there is another question. The Magic are looking for a leader, and it seems unclear whether Vucevic can be that leader.

He nor anyone else has stepped up so far despite everyone saying many of the things coaches and fans want to hear.

It will take some strong play from Vucevic and the rest of the Magic to right the ship and attain that goal.

There is very real pressure for the Magic for the rest of this season. The next month may very well shift the Magic from one era to another.

This era of Magic basketball — this rebuild — is Nikola Vucevic’s era. He is the face for the Magic for the last five years. All the good and the bad.

Perhaps it is unfair to pin it all on him. But this year, it does seem Vucevic holds a special responsibility. A playoff berth and more to him.

Next: OMD Podcast: Midseason Review

Unfortunately, circumstance and the business may prevent Vucevic from getting the team to that promised land.