Nikola Vucevic encouraged with Orlando Magic’s direction
The Orlando Magic are in the playoff hunt for the first time in seven years. Their free-agent-to-be Nikola Vucevic is happy with how things are pointing.
The Orlando Magic are in the thick of the playoff race. Every game matters for them and every game has importance. It is the only thing that matters.
It is safe to say that if the Magic fail to make the playoffs at this point, the season will be something of a disappointment.
That in itself is an incredible statement to make about this team and this season. It shows how far things have come.
Back in October, the main goal was to have these games matter and for the team to take a step forward, carving out a path for the future. The Magic have accomplished the goal even the most pessimistic set out at the beginning of the season.
Young players have grown — although they perhaps have not taken control of the team. Orlando got improved play from veteran players to supplement that. And the Magic made a splashy move to chase talent and secure a more sure future.
There are still questions to come after the season. No matter how much the season can get measured as a success, the real question is where do the Magic go next and how do they keep pushing and moving forward?
A big question there is Nikola Vucevic.
He will become a free agent this summer and much of the Magic’s offseason machinations revolve around what the Magic will do with him and what he will do with his decision.
Nikola Vucevic has had a career season averaging 20.7 points per game and 12.1 rebounds per game. He became a NBA All-Star for the first time and has the Magic in the playoff fight for the first time in his career. Vucevic has been the center of it all.
But no matter how this season goes, Vucevic finally sees a direction for this team. He told Pat Welter of Spectrum Sports 360 in a sit-down interview last week, he likes the direction this team is headed.
"“I like where we are going,” Vucevic said. “I think the best thing that the front office did was bringing in coach [Steve Clifford]. Someone that’s tough-minded, someone that knows exactly what he wants of players that’s very organized. I mean the whole coaching staff you can just see how tight they are how very well organized they are. They are all on the same page and I think that translates to the players.”"
Vucevic has long credited Clifford with his sudden emergence this year. And Clifford said throughout the early parts of the season Vucevic was the team’s best player. It only took Clifford entrusting Vucevic to unlock all of his play.
Certainly, no one saw this coming from Vucevic. And if Orlando wants to compete for the postseason again next year, it is hard imagining the team doing so without him.
That will add to the tension this summer as the Magic and Vucevic negotiate. It is as much Vucevic’s decision to stay or leave as it is on the Magic.
President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said in interviews last month he believes Vucevic likes Orlando and would like to remain with the team. But bridging the gulf in contract negotiations is a different matter. It would seem both sides have at least an early plan before they can start talking in July.
And certainly hanging in the background is the Magic’s selection of Mohamed Bamba last year.
There too, Vucevic has said all the right things. He has said he is willing to help the young player grow and does not feel threatened by his presence.
Regardless of the team’s roster situation, Vucevic is in line for a major raise in salary. He signed what looked like a sweetheart deal at the time that paid him $48 million over four years. Vucevic has outproduced that contract and is certainly in line for a deal that pays him more than $20 million per year.
He is in the prime of his career and coming off an All-Star season. And certainly, he is more valuable to the Magic than to anyone else.
Vucevic, to his credit, has not said much about his upcoming free agency. He said he will weigh all the options and do what is best for him and his family all the while professing his love for Orlando. Vucevic is not making promises and keeping any talk of the future vague.
He does not want that to be the focus right now. The team has plenty to play for still.
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Free agency will come in July. But, for now, it is pretty clear he is happy with where the Magic are headed and what they are competing for.