NBA Trade Deadline Portfolio 2018: Nikola Vucevic
With the Orlando Magic ignominiously free falling down the Eastern Conference standings, the new Jeff Weltman regime will be exploring all possible options to usher in a new era of Magic basketball. At this point, everyone on the roster other than Aaron Gordon seems readily attainable via trade. Orlando’s injured center Nikola Vucevic is a guy that has generated some interest during prior trade deadlines. Whether or not he will attract any potential buyers this time around will be an interesting test of the league’s center market.
Nikola Vucevic is a tricky player to evaluate in today’s NBA. He’s a skilled big man with some funky nuances in his game. But Vooch also has some obvious weaknesses that make him a tough fit on many NBA rosters. At the very least, Vucevic is a five man with adequate passing vision that can score in a variety of ways, popping shots from mid-range, rolling to the basket and working in the post. He added a 3-point shot to his game this year, shooting 34 percent from deep before injuring his hand back in December; Vooch has taken just over 240 shots from 3-point land in his career and 140 have come this season. That’s far too small of a sample to consider him a legit threat, but it’s certainly a positive sign.
For all of his versatility however, Vucevic is not an especially efficient scorer. In terms of true shooting percentage for example, Vooch is just about at the league average which is a bit alarming for a 7-footer with an offense-first reputation. Although he was shooting a ridiculous 77 percent at the rim this year, that figure seems like a substantial outlier given his unremarkable career marks from within 3-feet. Perhaps Orlando’s general ineptitude and cluttered spacing on offense over the past few seasons have overextended him. Perhaps his NBA destiny is to come off the bench and punk second units in the Enes Kanter bench big role.
Read More: One trade every team should make
Vucevic’s issues on defense are well-documented. He came into the league as a poor rim protector in a time when teams valued rim-protection as the paramount defensive skill for bigs. Although Vucevic has improved on the defense throughout his career, he’s not especially adept on that end of the floor. With defensive responsibilities getting even more taxing for bigs in during the 3-point revolution, chances are he’ll never top out as more than a decent defender.
What teams around the league could use a player with Vucevic’s skill set? I’m not sure any teams can say that they really need him. If the league’s cap situation were more favorable, Vooch’s market would almost definitely be more robust. With a cap crunch coming, will anyone want to give up an asset to take in Vooch? With one more year remaining on his deal after the end of this seasons, at just under $13 million, his deal isn’t terrible. At the same time it’s not a contract that most teams would consider an asset.
My general inclination is that Orlando is going to have a hard time trading Vucevic at the deadline. The Magic sure as hell are not getting a first-round pick for him unless they take on some incredibly toxic contract. A few potential deals exist, but given the lack of interest in the center market offers for Vooch might not be appealing.
In light of the immensely unfortunate DeMarcus Cousins injury, New Orleans could be a possible landing spot for Vucevic. The Pelicans are in an extremely precarious position. Anthony Davis’ free agency is looming in the not so distant horizon. And this summer they’ll have to decide whether or not to offer a max to the rehabbing Boogie Cousins. The future of the franchise stands on a knife’s edge. This is their third straight season with brutal injury luck, but with a guy like Davis on the team tanking isn’t an option. They’ll have to push for the playoffs, and trading for Vucevic would be a relatively low-risk maneuver that would theoretically plug the gaping hole in their center rotation. In addition it would keep Davis from playing exclusively at center, which he prefers not to do even though he’s devastatingly effective as a five.
Structuring a reasonable deal to send Vooch to the Pelicans is extremely tough though. Both teams just have so much toxic salary on their books. New Orleans would have to unload either Solomon Hill or Omer Asik to properly match salaries, but Orlando would never take those guys on without substantial compensation in the form of future draft assets. Vucevic isn’t on a great contract, but the Hill and Asik deals would make even the bravest teams queasy. While Vucevic could help New Orleans, I’m not sure the Magic and the Pelicans could come to a deal.
Next: The Encyclopedia of Modern Moves
The Dallas Mavericks are another possible trade partner for the Magic. Again, the incentives for Dallas seem limited but the two sides could gain some traction depending on Dallas’ long-term strategy. Would something like Nerlens Noel and a bit of bad salary in the form of Dwight Powell tickle Orlando’s fancy? Perhaps. If the Mavs are trying to strike in FA this summer though, adding Vooch doesn’t make all that much sense.