Nikola Vucevic’s return to a familiar role came with the kind of mixed bag the Magic know all too well.
On one end, the shot was there. In Wednesday’s preseason opener, Vucevic knocked down all three of his 3-pointers and finished with nine points, flashing the pick-and-pop game that once made him such a dangerous stretch option in Orlando. That part looked easy, almost automatic, the way a good Vucevic night often did for years.
The rest of the picture was less tidy.
He picked up two quick fouls for reaching at the ball, then a third when he brought his arms down after taking a forearm to the face. That play was reviewed and upheld against the Magic.
He did manage a block with his size and length, but Memphis also went right at him in pick-and-roll coverage, forcing him to sit deep in drop and absorb pressure. None of that was shocking, and none of it was new.
That’s the tension the Magic are sorting through in camp: Vucevic can still give them real offense, but the defense remains the question mark.
Coach Sean Sweeney may end up toggling between him and Goga Bitadze all season, and training camp has done little to settle the matter. As Wendell Carter put it after practice Friday, “For Goga, he's relentless.
He's going to go out there and give it his all until he can't anymore. Whatever is needed for the team, he's going to do it.
And he doesn't stop,” Carter said. “Vooch is very polished.
Year 15 now, you kind of know what kind of player he is. He stretches the floor, a really good shooter.
Probably one of the best on the team. He has an amazing feel for the game.
He understands where to be and when to be there.”
That’s the easy part of the evaluation. Nobody is wondering whether Vucevic can score.
The Magic already know what they’re getting there, and Wednesday only reinforced it. He averaged 16.9 points per game and shot 37.6 percent from three with the Chicago Bulls, and even after a hand injury slowed him down after a trade to the Boston Celtics, there’s still plenty of offense in his game.
What he gives Orlando offensively is obvious. He can post up.
He can shoot. He can punish a mismatch.
The issue is whether the team can live with what comes the other way.
In Wednesday’s game, the answer looked uncertain. Vucevic finished with a 142.9 defensive rating on the floor and collected three fouls in 12 minutes, with much of the damage coming on those late swipedowns and in drop coverage. Some of that came during a second stint alongside Tristan da Silva, Paolo Banchero, Jevon Carter and Franz Wagner, when the Magic went from up 12 to up three in the final six minutes of the second quarter.
One preseason game doesn’t settle anything, especially when rotations aren’t final and lineups aren’t regular. But the issue is clear enough already: Orlando knows it may have to cover for Vucevic defensively, and the question is whether it can do that consistently.
Bitadze may be the cleaner fit if defense is the priority.
The surprise on Wednesday was that Goga Bitadze got the first look as the backup center. It’s too early to call that a statement, but it was hard to miss.
His defensive profile is strong, and the numbers back that up. Last season, opponents shot 47.3 percent at the rim against him, according to Second Spectrum, and the Magic posted a 111.0 defensive rating with Bitadze on the floor, behind only Jonathan Isaac, Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner among rotation players.
Still, he hasn’t fully locked down that role because consistency has been the missing piece. Bitadze can get too emotional, drift out of position and let mistakes snowball.
That has shown up in the biggest moments, and his playoff minutes have dipped throughout his career. Last year, he played 13.8 minutes per game in the playoffs, the most of his career.
Even so, when he has gotten extended run, he has produced. The Magic had a 94.2 defensive rating with him on the floor in the playoffs, though the offense cratered to an 80.0 rating. That’s the trade-off with Bitadze: he brings above-the-rim impact on both ends, something Orlando’s other bigs don’t really offer, and something this roster has clearly lacked.
He gave the Magic seven points and two rebounds in 12.5 minutes on Wednesday, with a 107.4 defensive rating in those minutes. Again, it’s only one preseason game, but it fit the overall picture: nothing is settled yet.
That’s the reality at center for Orlando. Both Vucevic and Bitadze have a case.
Both fit in different ways. And the final call may come down game by game, depending on what the Magic need and which version of each player shows up.
For now, the biggest battle in camp is still very much alive.
In Other News...
Magic Preseason Is Already Putting Sean Sweeney On The Spot
The Magic got their preseason off to a winning start with a 122-118 victory over Memphis, and the opener offered an early look at how the rotation could take shape under Sean Sweeney. Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr. and Desmond Bane all saw the floor, giving Orlando some of its expected core pieces in action as the team begins sorting out roles before the games count.
What stood out just as much was who was missing from the mix. Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black and Noah Penda did not play, which leaves the preseason spotlight on how Orlando handles its point guard picture and where a young player like Penda might fit once the lineup starts tightening up. For a team trying to sharpen its identity, those absences make the coming games feel less like tune-ups and more like auditions. [Read more 🡒]
Franz Wagner Is Giving The Magic A New Offensive Dilemma
Franz Wagner has already started creating a new kind of problem for Orlandos offense in the preseason, and it is the kind a coaching staff usually welcomes. In the game against Memphis, he kept finding ways to put pressure on the defense as a ball-handler, and the look carried over from training camp into Sean Sweeneys broader confidence in how Wagner can help initiate things for the Magic.
Sweeney pointed to Wagners preseason work as part of the reason the staff feels good about giving him more responsibility with the ball, which adds another layer to Orlandos half-court options. The wrinkle is less about whether Wagner can handle it and more about how often the Magic want that job shared, especially with Sweeney also mentioning the teams broader communication process during games and Jon Harris role in reviewing challenge decisions. [Read more 🡒]
Magic Center Battle Could Force A Tough Rotation Decision
Training camp has given the Magic plenty to sort through in the frontcourt, where Wendell Carter Jr., Goga Bitadze and Nikola Vucevic are all pushing for clearer roles. The competition is exactly the kind of problem Orlando wants, with each big man bringing a different look and coach Sean Sweeney weighing how that mix could shape the rotation once the games count.
For Carter, the daily work against Bitadze and Vucevic has become part of the value of camp, with the matchup variety helping sharpen his game. Bitadze, meanwhile, has viewed Carter as a tough interior presence to deal with, and that kind of back-and-forth only adds to the sense that Orlandos coaching staff may have some real decisions ahead as it tries to balance versatility, fit and minutes in the paint. [Read more 🡒]