2016-17 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Nikola Vucevic

Heading into the season Nikola Vucevic had a lot going for him. He was being paired with Frank Vogel and Serge Ibaka. Did Nikola Vucevic live up to expectations?

Last season, Nikola Vucevic had a career year on the offensive side of the ball, averaging 18.2 points per game. But there were still very real concerns regarding his defense.

With Scott Skiles‘ resignation and the subsequent hire of defensive guru Frank Vogel, many expected Vucevic to make a leap defensively. Add in the fact the Orlando Magic acquired the player many had pegged as Vucevic’s perfect complement: Serge Ibaka.

Vucevic and the Magic should have been poised to make a huge leap this season.

Instead, the Magic floundered. Vucevic regressed offensively and was benched for parts of the season in an effort to light a spark for the zombie Magic.

The dream pairing with Ibaka did not work out. The two struggled to gel defensively and the whole pairing collapsed. With another post player clogging the lane, Vucevic took more jump shots and his field goal percentage dropped dramatically.

His numbers bounced back after the All-Star Break when the Magic went smaller and traded away Ibaka. This is when the team stopped playing Vucevic with another big like Ibaka or Bismack Biyombo. But they never recovered to the levels of last year. Vucevic averaged 16.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game on 45.3 percent shooting.

Vucevic did not reach his previous levels offensively. While his defense showed some improvement, it was not enough to make a big effect on the Magic.

He was still a valuable player. Vucevic could still hit a jumper and he could still get a double-double. Even off the bench, he would produce the counting stats the team needed. But the team needed a bit more.

Then again, they needed a bit more from everybody. Vucevic was just one of the many.

In the end, Vucevic was one of the many players who struggled to adjust to the team’s changes and mismatched roster.