NBA: 10 under the radar players to look out for in 2015-16

Nikola Vucevic

In a NBA generation that’s lacking in talented centers, Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic stands strongly as a testament against that movement.

There were only four players who averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds per game last season, and Vucevic was one of them. The other three were Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and LaMarcus Aldridge: three of the NBA’s top All-Stars, and some of the most respected big men in the game today.

Yet, how often do you hear people giving Vucevic credit for putting up those kind of numbers? Probably not nearly as much as you should.

Last season, he averaged 19.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, consequently ranking him 16th in scoring and 6th in rebounding. On top of that, he shot a career high 52.3 percent from the floor and made 75.2 percent of his free throws, which puts the likes of DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard to shame.

Vucevic continued to demonstrate his skill, too. Rather than relying on offensive put-backs to get easy points, he’s highly effective at spacing the floor and abusing centers who are poor at defending away from the basket. He attempted 25.7 precent of his shots from beyond 16 feet, and made them at a highly effective rate of 46.8 percent. Add on his 47.1 percent shooting from 10-t0-16 feet and his 66.8 percent finishing rate at the rim, and it’s hard to argue with how talented Vucevic is on offense.

However, the inescapable problem with his game is his defense. The Magic allowed 3.2 more points per 100 possessions with Vucevic in the game, and he failed to protect the paint consistently after allowing opponents to shoot 53.7 percent at the rim.

In 2015-16, he’ll continue to go to utilize his skills in the post and his mid-range game, so you can expect him to be a constant threat to score 20 points every night. The area that he must look to improve on, though, is his defense.

Next: Jrue Holiday