The Orlando Magic are reuniting with a familiar face in Nikola Vucevic.
Following the official opening of free agency on June 30 at 6 p.m. ET, the Orlando Magic did not wait long to start facilitating roster moves.
On Wednesday, Orlando welcomed back former All-Star center Nikola Vucevic in the form of a one-year, $3.9 million deal. Additionally, the front office re-signed Jevon Carter to a one-year deal while also bringing back Jonathan Isaac after waiving him on June 27. On the side of subtraction, center Moe Wagner left for a two-year, $19 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
For the Magic, it was going to be a summer of restriction due to their large payroll and standing as a first-apron team, but they were far from inactive.
On the most recent episode of the Full Court Magic podcast, I discussed the movement by the organization to open the month of July, and I started by praising the signing of Vucevic:
"Now, he makes his way back to the Magic on, I believe it's a $3.9 million deal. And so, you know, this is one of those, you know, value finds for the Magic. And they not only reunite with an important player in franchise history, but they also address depth at the center position. And they get a guy who is still very capable of producing a double-double, you know, despite being 35 years old, despite having some miles on his body and in his career. This is still a very productive player who, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, passed up more lucrative offers in order to return to Orlando.
So, that was a good investment by the front office and Jeff Weltman. I released some trade grades yesterday. I gave this one an A, not just for the nostalgia of it, but for getting a really reliable backup center, especially now that Moe Wagner has departed as a free agent and signed a two-year $19 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets, as also reported by Charania yesterday.
So this, you know, puts into effect a good player, a really savvy veteran behind Wendell Carter Jr. and can possibly create, you know, a good one-two punch there at the five. And we'll see what happens with the future of Goga Bitadze and things of that nature. The Magic so far have not seemed interested in shopping him. So, if he does remain on the roster, along with Carter Jr., you have three very serviceable centers to shore up that frontcourt depth. So a good pickup there."
Vucevic may be getting older, but he is still a productive player that undoubtedly boosts the Magic’s bench unit.
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