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Following the promising development reported about the Orlando Magic having both Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon on track to return to action for them on Thursday, their fans may want to lessen their expectations on them for the meantime to produce huge numbers immediately.
Despite potentially seeing them share the court with their teammates again on the night, head coach Frank Vogel also made it clear that he will not give them extended run yet and will keep their minutes “at a reasonable number, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
Vucevic has only appeared in 34 games so far this season but was playing solid basketball before he suffered a hand injury back in December. He had impressive averages of 17.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.1 blocks in 29.9 minutes and was the focal point of the team’s offense. If he can show no signs of being hampered by the hand injury, it will be a huge boost for the Magic, who are not having a lot of success in the campaign.
Gordon, on the other hand, has missed the Magic’s last nine games due to a strained left hip flexor. His presence on the floor has been sorely missed by the team, especially with him enjoying his best season as a pro with career-high averages of 18.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 34.0 minutes per game.
Vogel’s decision to monitor their minutes does not come as a complete surprise as he wants them to regain their old forms but not risk them getting hurt again. With the Magic likely headed to the lottery and only playing to finish with a more respectable record, there’s no need to have them play heavy minutes as soon as they return.
However, if they can show that they have no rust in them after remaining on the shelf for a significant amount of time, they could slowly receive the same amount of court action they had earlier in the season again.
