Nikola Vucevic
Refinement on offense. He's got a good basic skill set and has for years. He was shooting hooks and facing up in college, but he needs to continue to hone his skillset and expand his range. If he does that, I see no reason as to why he can't be one of the top C's in the league. Maybe 17/11/2 if he keeps working.
He's a beast on the boards, finished with 29 today, absolutely dominated Chris Bosh on the boards who finished with 4. I can easily see him being an Anderson Varejao guy for a good chunk of his career, averaging 14 and 13, being a hustle guy that can crash the glass.
He is going to be an above-average starting Center in the NBA. His 29 boards tonight set a Magic record. Pretty impressive considering the elite big guys that have played there. I think the Magic have the talent to turn the corner quickly. They may have gotten the right parts in the Howard trade. They should be able to get high value out of Reddick getting more assests. Get a star in the draft, they are set, imo.
European Baller will be seriously pissed if both Vucevic and Pekovic continue to play well. He might even change his name to Montenegrin_Baller in the hope his opinions will be listened to and he can unearth the next great Montenegrin player.
In the limited playing time he got with Philly last year he looked very promising and if he could persuade Coach Collins to play him as a rookie, he must have been doing something right. The Magic have maybe punched a bit above their weight this year and if the various pieces gel then they will not have a bad future with additional picks due from the D12 trade.
Getting 29 boards is an exception performance and Vucevic looks as if at worse he can be a double-double threat going forward and should hopefully become an above average NBA starting C. He may not be Dwight Howard but could well be Orlando's starting C for the next decade and so they have one key rebuilding piece already in place.
He's playing great against the Heat tonight with 13 points and a staggering 20 rebounds. The kid is still young, but what parts in his game you think he improve on in order for his stats equal wins for the Magic?