Nikola Vucevic is already among Orlando Magic’s all-time best players

Nikola Vucevic has spent most of his career criticized and struggling with defeat. With some records in sight, he deserves a place among the best.

There was always something missing from Nikola Vucevic‘s Orlando Magic resume. It was the most obvious thing missing after six years of putting up solid numbers and still facing these doubts.

He had not won.

Nikola Vucevic understood this as well as anyone else. He was a near-All-Star in 2016 and a constant double-double producer, but team success eluded him. And that is ultimately what mattered to him, as it would any player.

He faced criticism that his numbers were empty. That it was his defense, admittedly not his best trait, holding the entire team back. He was the team’s best player and shouldered a lot of responsibility for the team’s constant struggles for much of his seven years in Orlando.

The Magic lacked all direction and Vucevic suffered most for it. He was the good soldier who did his work and put up his numbers with little complaint.

As much as anyone, he wanted to win in Orlando. This had become his home. The place where he began building his family. It would be hard to envision him going anywhere else.

Each trade deadline seemed to bring another wave of rumors and pushes to move on from Vucevic, perhaps as a symbolic gesture of moving on from this forgettable era itself.

Vucevic kept putting in his work. He continued to post double-doubles and climb the leaderboards in Magic history.

Then he finally had his breakthrough. An All-Star appearance, a playoff run and a stellar season — 20.8 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. It helped him earn a new four-year contract and cement his place in the team’s near-term future as they try to make the playoffs again.

It also cemented Vucevic’s place in Magic history. No matter how anyone slices it or what happens next, Vucevic should go down as one of the very best players to play with the Magic.

Climbing the ranks

In an era where players rarely stay with one team for very long, being with a team for seven seasons is going to put them squarely among the top players in several statistical categories. Nikola Vucevic has put in his work with several years of consistently solid play. It was inevitable he would climb the ranks.

This year, he scored 1,665 points and climbed past Shaquille O’Neal for fifth all-time on the Orlando Magic’s scoring list. Shaquille O’Neal, of course, did that in four years rather than seven.

Still it is pretty stark to see Vucevic climbing this most basic list measuring greatness. Nikola Vucevic is indeed fifth all-time on the Magic’s scoring list and likely to pass Jameer Nelson for fourth this coming season.

With a new four-year contract in tow, it seems inevitable Vucevic will continue to climb this list. Averaging 1,161 points per season, Nikola Vucevic is on pace to pass Jameer Nelson and Tracy McGrady to land third on the Magic’s all-time scoring list.

At his current pace, Vucevic would become the Magic’s all-time leading scorer in the third year of his new contract.

Vucevic is sixth in scoring average at 16.8 points per game. He trails only the luminaries in Magic history — and Steve Francis’ season and a half in Orlando.

Vucevic is also currently second on the all-time rebounds list. His 5,191 rebounds trail only Dwight Howard. At Vucevic’s current pace of 742 rebounds per season, Nikola Vucevic would pass Dwight Howard in the final year of his new four-year deal.

Vucevic ranks third in rebounds per game, trailing only O’Neal and Howard.

On these lists alone, Vucevic has proven he is not perhaps on the Mt. Rushmore of Magic history, but he is a notch below. That is certainly not the perception of how fans view his tenure with the team.

Longevity has something to do with it. But unlike other players high up on the years of service list — like Jameer Nelson, Nick Anderson and even Pat Garrity — Nikola Vucevic is not universally beloved. In fact, even suggestions that Vucevic is one of the 10-best players in Magic history will draw some derision.

Perhaps that was before this past year when Vucevic proved his All-Star bona fides.

His place in history

Even if Nikola Vucevic does become the Magic’s all-time leading scorer, he will not touch the Magic’s Mt. Rushmore — Shaquille O’Neal, Anfernee Hardaway, Tracy McGrady and Dwight Howard. All four were at least on pace to become Hall of Fame players while in a Magic uniform — Anfernee Hardaway would be in if he did not get hurt and Dwight Howard should be in once he retires.

Nikola Vucevic is certainly not on that pace.

With his one playoff appearance, he is certainly not on their level. And even after his All-Star appearance — he was just the eighth different player to make an All-Star Game in a Magic uniform — no one would consider him in the pantheon of all-time Magic greats.

Those players have lists of rewards, records and accolades that surpass Vucevic. Many of them have played deep into the playoffs while Vucevic’s tenur has seen him and his teams merely fighting for respectability.

When Orlando Magic Daily surveyed its writers three years ago for the top-25 players in Magic history, Vucevic finished 12th. He was 14th in the Orlando Magic’s own list three years ago.

That shows how much things have changed in the last three years and how consistency and solid play cna help a player climb the lists. He is clearly now in the top-10 and clearly now in the group with other beloved Magic players.

Unlike many of the other top players, Vucevic was No. 20 in our list of the Magic’s most popular players in Magic history that we released last year.

There is clearly still an evolving story with Vucevic. He is now someone who has kept true to his team and shown loyalty and delivered a satisfying and gratifying playoff trip.

He took crticisim for his playoff performance. There always seems to be people who want more from him. But his numbers speak for themselves.

Defining his era

Nikola Vucevic is certainly an important part of Orlando Magic history and one of the greatest players in the franchise’s history. These numbers prove that, but so does his connection with the team.

While much of his tenure with the Magic will be considered a dark time in the franchise history, he will be a defining character of this era as its best player for nearly a decade.

That certainly was not the plan when the Magic originally acquired him. They seemed a bit surprised at how productive he was from the start, quickly establishing himself as a consistent double-double. Vucevic created some of the best memories of those early years of the rebuild.

Other players and shiny new toys took the attention. Hopes got pinned to players like Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris. Orlando certainly misjudged their talent and their development. When they failed to live up to expectations, they got moved on and Vucevic remained.

It probably was not for lack of trying to shift things.

The lack of direction from the front office probably prevented Orlando from really moving on. Then again, every time the front office tried to bring in players to challenge Nikola Vucevic — such as Dewayne Dedmon, Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo — Nikola Vucevic beat them. He proved himself better.

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Vucevic has now led the Magic to the playoffs. The expectations now with a new contract in tow is to lead them to the playoffs again. He will face the pressure that some of his teammates squarely faced before.

How he responds to this pressure and how he performs in the next few years will ultimately determine his place in Magic history.

Orlando may very well still be trying to push Vucevic to the wayside and focus their offensive and development efforts on other players.

Last year was really the first year the team turned the offense over completely to Vucevic instead of working to develop other young players at his expense. He was no longer the guy chugging along in the background.

But even with a $100-million, four-year deal, Magic fans would likely point to Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz as the team’s future. They might argue Nikola Vucevic’s replacement is already in place with Mohamed Bamba on the roster.

That has never phased Vucevic before. He will continue to put up solid numbers and do his work. And now he will do his best to help his team win.

He has his flaws and weaknesses of course. Those seem to have always dominated the discussion with Vucevic. Fans always wanted more from Vucevic rather than appreciating what he cand o.

Last year was proof of how good he can be when the focus is on what he can do. Winning has a way of flipping the narrative.

And that should have put everything he has done with the team in the last seven years in a different perspective. It should cause some re-evaluation of his place in Magic history.

Regardless of what the future holds for Vucevic, he has already established himself as one of the best players in Magic history. His work over the years has put him among the Magic’s all-time greats.

And no matter where his career takes him, Vucevic is already among them.