Report: Magic, Nikola Vucevic agree to 4-year contract extension
Oct 21, 2014, 7:35 PM EDT
AP The Magic have a young core of players that they’re banking on for the future, and starting center Nikola Vucevic is right near the top of that list.
Vucevic averaged 14.2 points and 11 rebounds in 31.8 minutes per contest last season, and big men who can consistently deliver that level of production are hard to come by, especially in markets like Orlando where star free agents haven’t been willing to sign in recent seasons.
The team’s best bet in building a contender is to lock up young players they like who are coming off of their rookie scale contracts — and the Magic did just that where Vucevic was concerned.
From Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports:
Magic give Vucevic four-year $54 million extension, source tells Yahoo
And from Shams Charania of RealGM:
Nikola Vucevic’s new contract extension with the Orlando Magic is fully guaranteed through four seasons, no options, source tells RealGM.
Did Orlando overpay, here? Maybe a little bit; $12 million per year would have seemed more reasonable. But less talented big men have been overpaid by NBA teams for years, and remember, the salary cap will be increasing dramatically over the next few seasons due to the league’s new multi-billion-dollar deal with its broadcast rights partners.
Next up for Orlando is to try to work something out with Tobias Harris, but Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports that there is still a “significant gap” between the two sides.
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- 00maltliquor - Oct 21, 2014 at 8:00 PM
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They needed to lock him up. The pricetag is a bit insane, but if he continues to make big leaps in production lije he has it may be very livable, but I’m kind of curious as to how high his ceiling could be.
3 seasons later, looking back at the LAL/PHI/DEN/ORL blockbuster, the team I chastised most for getting virtually nothing back when they had the biggest piece in the group -Orlando Magic- came out the winner of the group, surprisingly. Bynum never came back the same and left nothing behind for the Sixers troubles, Dwight left with no return, Iggy left with no return back as well. Vucevic is still there and producing. What a weird trade the way it shook out after a few years.
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- truehooper1421 - Oct 22, 2014 at 9:32 AM
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Malt, I’m a Magic fan and I was a little confused when that trade went down. I thought we could’ve gotten a better haul, specifically, Brook Lopez but boy am I glad Hennigan made this move. Vuc is a beast on the boards and can score.
I felt the same way this past summer when they drafted Gordon instead of Exum, then Saric at 12. But once they traded Saric for Payton, it all made sense. I can’t doubt these guys any more they know what they’re doing.
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- 00maltliquor - Oct 22, 2014 at 11:00 AM
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How did you make sense of Afflalo for Fournier, then signing Ben Gordon to a wieghty contract and picking up Willie Green to further bury Fornier and stunt his growth? Or when they signed Jameer to that decently big contract when they were clearly rebuilding? Or when they gave an older player in Channing Frye a pretty big contract when they got young talent in Aaron Gordon, Kyle O’Quinn, Andrew Nicholson, and even Tobias Harris who slides down to PF that need to get minutes to grow and flourish?
IDK…you guys have some pretty nice pieces, but there are still a whole bunch of headscratchers the FO have made for me to dismiss. I know if I was a Magic fan, I’d be a little pissed at some of the stuff that went down. Also I really hope Gordon Is a stud, and I could be wrong, but I would have drafted Randle or Vonleh over Gordon if I wanted to go PF. I like the defensive potential Gordon and Payton bring to go along with Oladipo, then you got Harris and Vucevic to round out the starters so time will tell, just like that trade lol
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- raidmagic - Oct 21, 2014 at 9:54 PM
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Isn’t it a 12mil/yr deal with incentives to push it up to 53 million?
Either way happy to have him in Pinstripes for the coming years.
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- yesser12 - Oct 21, 2014 at 9:59 PM
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He is a underrated big.
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- kso1234 - Oct 21, 2014 at 10:59 PM
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“Especially in markets like Orlando.” Can we stop with this BS media narrative? This is the same team that in 2000 plucked Grant Hill away from the Pistons, McGrady from the Raptors and were inches away from Duncan (look it up). Not all players want to play in NYC/LA especially when they suck. Name the last MVP caliber player who left a small market to play in a big one. Why do you have to go so far back? Because this is a BS media created narrative. We know you don’t like the food/hotels in OKC, get over it.
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- sylpkt - Oct 21, 2014 at 11:50 PM
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You’re kind to say “left a small market to play in a big one”, but forced their way to a big market is probably more appropriate.
Dwight Howard forced his way to LA from Orlando
James Harden forced his way to Houston from OKC
Chris Paul forced his way to LA from NO
Carmelo Anthony forced his way to NY from Denver
Kevin Garnett forced his way to Boston from Minn
Shaq forced his way to LA from Orlando
Kobe forced his way to LA from Charlotte
Deron Williams forced his way to NJ from Utah
Steve Francis (way back when he was “Stevie Franchise) forced his way to Houston from Van
Stephon Marbury (way back when he was “Starbury”) forced his way to NJ from MinnAnd that’s just over the last 20 years or so, not counting guys like Bosh and LeBron going to not a “big” market, but a much more glamorous market in MIA from Toronto and Cleveland or Amare Staudimire leaving for NY from PHX
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- kso1234 - Oct 22, 2014 at 7:58 AM
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Right and if we narrow that down to MVP caliber players at the time that they left their current team you’d have Shaq, (must’ve left LA later to search for a bigger market? No.) Players leave due to beef with teammates/management or losing records and lack of immediate resources to change the personnel. Players can get the same exposure playing in Minny that they could from playing in LA. It’s 2014 not 1984.
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- sylpkt - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:13 PM
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I don’t know how you look at that list and say that Shaq was the only “MVP caliber player” at the time they forced their way out.
Howard was considered the best center in the game at the time and had already taken Orlando to the finals, he was an MVP contender.
Chris Paul has been an MVP contender every year since about his 3rd year in the league and consistently been considered the best pure PG in the league
Carmelo Anthony had taken Denver to the conference finals and was considered the best scorer in the league at the time along w/ Kobe. He was an MVP contender.
Deron Williams at that time was in the conversation with the best PG w/ Chris Paul.
Kevin Garnett had already won an MVP.Certainly, MVP caliber players tend to move if the franchise is dysfunctional, or the team around them sucks, but they certainly aren’t visiting Milwaukee or Sacramento, they always seem to end up in a bigger market (Cleveland being the exception, but only because LBJ is from there, otherwise, no one would go there either)
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- sixerstrong - Oct 22, 2014 at 10:17 AM
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I always like Vuc, and I hated seeing him leave the Sixers. I remember that during pregame warmups him and Jrue Holliday would play one on one before every game. I loved his footwork and just his eye for the ball. Great job by Orlando to lock him up.
