LeBron James' decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Los Angeles Lakers shook the basketball world. The Orlando Magic (and every other Eastern Conference team) have to be happy with LeBron's decision to head out West.
Magic center Nikola Vucevic recently sat down with EuroHoops to talk, and of course the conversation touched on LeBron.
“He’s the best in the world. He knows the game very well, he’s smart and he simply does it all. Even his presence on the court makes his teammates play better. Some players have that, the great ones do, and obviously, he’s one of them.”
It's no wonder why the 27-year-old big man is raving for a player the caliber of LeBron. Throughout his career, Vucevic's impressive individual numbers have never translated to team success. Orlando simply hasn't found that superstar player to fill the void of Dwight Howard.
The Magic's last playoff appearance was in 2012 when Howard was on the team. Vucevic came to Orlando in the Howard trade, and the team has struggled ever since. In an interview with Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, Vucevic recently voiced out his concerns after Orlando missed out on the postseason again.
“Now we’re kind of stuck,” Vucevic continued. “It’s hard to see what we can do to get better. I always felt like before we had so many young pieces. We were going to grow together. We were going to get somewhere. A lot of times that happens: When you have young pieces you’re able to maybe trade one for a couple of good veterans or something. But the moves we made didn’t really work out for us. You look at Vic, Tobias — where they’re at, how they’re playing. It’s just very tough to deal with all that when you think about where we could be and where we’re at.”
The Magic drafted a potential franchise cornerstone in Mo Bamba in the recent draft, a player who will be coming for Vucevic's spot. Vucevic may not be long for the Magic at this point, and he will likely be hoping to go somewhere he can have team success.
Follow Us
Subscribe