Vucevic, Bulls on deck amid a six-game skid
First meeting since team traded All-Star center to Chicago
For the first time since the 201112 season, Nikola Vucevic will play against the Orlando Magic.
Vucevic, who carved out two All-Star seasons during his nineyear tenure in Orlando, will face his former teammates Wednesday night when the Magic take on the Bulls at United Center.
Vucevic last wore the uniform of a Magic opponent on Feb. 15, 2012 during his rookie season with the 76ers. He had 10 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes as Orlando posted a 103-87 win. Vucevic did not play in the other three meetings between the teams that season.
Vucevic eventually helped lead Orlando to back-to-back playoff berths and now the veteran center is trying to do the same in Chicago. The Bulls (22-31) are currently 10th in the Eastern Conference as they battle to secure the final
play-in spot. Vucevic has fit in nicely so far, averaging 21.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 50.3% overall and 42.9% from the 3-point line in 10 games.
Vucevic also had some high praise for new teammate and fellow All-Star Zach LaVine.
“I’ve never played with anyone who’s as good of a scorer as Zach is, so I think it’s going to be great for me to have a guy like that on the ball a lot,” Vucevic told Alex Kennedy of Basketball News. “In some of the games, it’s shown already in some of our two-man game action, although we haven’t played together a lot. It’s going to be hard to defend.”
While Vucevic’s legacy with the Magic is well-documented, his effect on his teammates was just as impactful. Rookie forward Chuma Okeke remembers gleaning information from Vucevic that helped lessen the NBA learning curve.
Okeke said Vucevic was one of the first players to offer advice and counsel about how to go about being an NBA player. What Okeke saw was how to go beyond being just an NBA player.
“Just to look at him and follow his footsteps both off the court and also on the court, how he carries himself, just how he works,” Okeke said. “Just seeing the way he prepares himself for games, how it translates to the game.
“So you see those things he does on and off the court and you say, ‘OK, that’s what an All-Star does.’ So that’s what I’ve got to do to, if I want to lead by example.”
Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. will have his own reunion as he returns to Chicago to face the team that drafted him No. 7 overall in 2018. Carter said he’ll focus on helping the Magic but acknowledged he’s looking forward to playing against his former team.
“I’m going to approach it as another game, but with it being so recent, I’m going to have a certain chip on my shoulder, of course. I’m a competitor,” Carter said of his recent trade.
Carter and Orlando (17-37) are looking to gain some traction amid the team’s roster reset. Since trading Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu to the Bulls, Evan Fournier to the Celtics, and Aaron Gordon and Gary Clark to the Nuggets, the Magic have gone 2-8 and are mired in a six-game losing streak.
Magic coach Steve Clifford said shooting guard Gary Harris will return to the lineup after sitting out Monday’s loss to the Spurs for injury management on the adductor strain that kept him out of 30 games from Jan. 31 to April 9.
Magic center Mo Bamba, meanwhile, has been listed as questionable. He left Monday’s game in the first quarter and did not return because of a right hip contusion.
Wednesday’s game tips off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on Bally Sports Florida.
Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) takes a shot over San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl (25) during the first half Monday in Orlando.