NBA
NBA Rumors: Magic, Vucevic Agree to Extension
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated30 Oct 2023
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The Orlando Magic and the representatives for center Nik Vucevic are finalizing a contract extension that will add four years to his current deal and will run through the 2018-19 NBA season, industry sources told the Orlando Sentinel.
The deal will pay Vucevic a total of $53 million over four seasons, and the extension will not include an opt-out clause that would enable Vucevic to become a free agent before the summer of 2019.
This is a good move for the Magic, as Vucevic is a very important piece of their young core. The 24-year-old center joined the Magic as part of the Dwight Howard blockbuster deal and has looked good over the last two seasons in Orlando.
The Magic love the huge strides that Vucevic has made, as he has been one of the most productive young centers in the NBA.
Last year, Vucevic averaged 14.2 points and 11 rebounds. He must improve on the defensive end, but he has shown he can score in the low-post and dominate the glass.
Had Vucevic not agreed to a contract extension with the Magic, he would’ve been a restricted free agent next summer and the Magic may have had to pay more to retain him.
This is a fair deal for both sides, especially with the salary cap set to increase significantly over the next few years due to the NBA’s new television deal. It’ll be interesting to watch Vucevic as he continues to develop, but it’s clear that the Magic view him as a franchise cornerstone.
Tobias Harris is also eligible for an extension with the Magic, but the two sides are far apart and may not come to an agreement.
Danny Ainge and Mark Bartelstein, the agent for Will Bynum, continue to work today to find a destination for the veteran point guard that might also bring the Celtics something of value in return.
“We’re trying to see if there is something we can do,” said Bartelstein, who said that Bynum is currently working out in his hometown of Chicago, where years ago he was the high school teammate of Tony Allen.
Bartelstein stressed that Bynum has neither been asked to stay away from Celtics training camp nor refused to attend.
It seems that the Celtics are trying to flip Will Bynum after recently acquiring him from the Pistons in exchange for Joel Anthony.
If Boston can’t move Bynum, they will likely waive him since they have 16 players with guaranteed contracts and must trim that down to 15 by the start of the regular season.
As a source told Murphy in the article, this is a very difficult time to make a trade. Teams have already made their moves and now they’re just focused on getting everyone on the same page and seeing what they have.
According to Bartelstein, Bynum is healthy and ready to contribute. He had strained his hamstring earlier in the preseason, but he’s fine now. He has been working out in Chicago while he waits to see how this will play out.
The 31-year-old averaged 8.7 points and 3.9 assists last year while playing 18.8 minutes per game off of the Pistons’ bench. If Boston waives Bynum, there’s a good possibility that another team will sign him, especially when injuries start occurring and backcourt help is needed.
Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard John Lucas.
via NBA press release
John Wall and Andre Miller will obviously be ahead of Lucas on the depth chart, but this move gives the team another point guard who can contribute.
Lucas could also help the team playing alongside Wall or Miller over the next few weeks, since Brad Beal and Martell Webster are injured. The Wizards will likely have to go small and get creative to fill the hole at two-guard.
In six seasons with Houston, Chicago, Toronto and Utah, Lucas has appeared in 216 regular season games while averaging 4.8 points and 1.4 assists in 12.2 minutes.
Last season, Lucas appeared in 42 games with Utah and averaged 3.8 points and an assist in 14.1 minutes.
