The Orlando Magic should not trade Nikola Vucevic… yet
Vucevic is important right now
There is no reason the Magic should feel a major sense of urgency to get Vucevic off their books. His contract is not “dead money” by any stretch of the imagination.
Even if it were, the cap relief from moving his contract now instead of later would provide would not expand Orlando’s options very much.
The only reason the Magic’s new front office would want to move Vucevic right now is if they wanted to spend serious money in this year’s free agency. Or they had a trade that gave them a serious upgrade — a scenario that is hard to believe considering Vucevic’s production and player profile.
It is hard to tell this early, but most front offices trying to breathe life into a rebuild value flexibility, so that kind of major investment probably is not in the cards right now.
Cap relief will benefit the Magic far more in 2019 and beyond when they hope to be poised as a playoff team and thus serious players in free agency. 2017 just is not the year for that.
His contract does not have to be moved right now. If he will not attract an excellent return, why move him?
It is understandable for Magic fans to want him traded. Vucevic is not and probably will never be good enough to be a first or second option on a championship team. But he is still valuable – he is a good rebounder, a good scorer and a great passer. He had his best-ever defensive season last year.
Orlando Magic
If the Magic keep him around at least another year, they can continue to explore those skills. Maybe Vucevic will expand upon his defensive improvements and increase his trade value. Maybe coach Frank Vogel will try to use his passing more, as appeared to be the case near the end of last season.
Because of Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo’s disappointing performances, Vucevic was shockingly not far off from being the Magic’s best rim protector.
Among the three, he blocked the fewest shots. But defense is not limited to blocks.
Vucevic was posted up more frequently than anyone else on the Magic, yet held his own. Opponents shot only 45 percent on those plays, compared to Bismack Biyombo’s 57 percent.
Vucevic was about average defending shots within six feet of the rim and defending the pick and roll.
That is not to say Vucevic is now an above-average defender, or even that he will replicate those numbers next season. But based on last season’s production, it is difficult to argue Biyombo has brought anything to the table of which Vucevic is not capable.
Next season, there is a very strong chance Biyombo’s defensive prowess returns and Vucevic regresses. But as long as Vucevic is proving himself not to be a net negative, there is no reason anyone should feel a sense of urgency to keep him off the floor.
If his production on both ends is more than stable or better than Biyombo’s, which it was in 2017, there is no reason Vucevic needs to be traded any time soon
If he expands on his 2017 campaign, his value will improve and he will be more valuable later when he has proven he can sustain this production across multiple seasons. If he regresses or stagnates, his value will stay the same because he is a known commodity.
Vucevic is valuable to the Magic right now. He makes them a better team. Even if they had more cap space, the Magic would not and should not be major players in free agency this summer.
The Magic may need an upgrade at center. But trading Vucevic as a form of cap relief does not make sense.