ORLANDO - Could Nikola Vucevic set an NBA all-time record for most 3-pointers attempted per game by a center in a season?
It sounds possible.
Orlando Magic Head Coach Steve Clifford said Friday that he wouldn’t mind Vucevic taking as many as eight or nine 3-pointers per game this season.
Never before in the history of the league has a true center attempted eight or more threes per game. Last season, Karl-Anthony Towns averaged 7.9 per game for the Minnesota Timberwolves. That was the most ever by a center, per Stathead. Brook Lopez (6.3 in 2018-19) and DeMarcus Cousins (6.1 in 2017-18) are the only other centers who averaged six or more.
On Thursday against the Charlotte Hornets, Vucevic took eight threes, knocking down three of them. He scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, both game highs.
“I told him today in front of the team, I like last night,” Clifford said. “I like eight, nine threes a game. If you look in the bubble, one of the reasons he played so well, he’s inside and outside. So last night, he had three paint catches of which I think we scored six points on, or maybe even seven. Then I believe he shot eight threes. I think that’s a great blend for him.”
Now in his ninth season with the Magic, Vucevic has spent an exorbitant amount of time working on his range shooting. His teammates, notably Evan Fournier, who has been Vucevic’s teammate since 2014, has seen firsthand the effort he’s put in to become a dependable shooter from distance.
“Every day,” Fournier said when asked how often he sees the 7-footer work on his 3-point shooting in the gym.
Last season, Vucevic averaged 4.7 3-point tries per game, a career high. So, if he did end up launching as many as eight or nine of them per game, he’d come close to doubling his best mark to this point.
Up until a few years ago, the now 30-year-old rarely ever took a three. In fact, just four seasons ago (2016-17), only seven percent of his shots came from behind the 3-point line. In his five years combined before that, he attempted a total of 26 3-pointers.
The big question is whether he will be able to shoot the 3-ball with higher accuracy. Last season, he shot just 33.9 percent on 289 attempts. In 2018-19, he drilled 36.4 percent on 231 attempts and in 2017-18 31.4 percent with 204 cracks at it.
The combination of being able to shoot from long distance and be a playmaker from out there is a big part of what makes Vucevic such a tough matchup for opponents.
Aaron Gordon, who like Fournier has been Vucevic’s teammate since 2014, says the most underrated aspect of the Montenegrin’s game is his passing. His vision and decision-making opens up so many scoring opportunities for his teammates.
“He distributes the ball really, really well. I mean, he passes like a point guard,” Gordon said.
Rarely does he ever turn the ball over as well. In 2019-20, he became the first center since turnovers became an official stat in 1977 to average at least 19 points and three assists while turning the ball over fewer than 1.5 times per game, per Stathead. He’s only the third player ever at any position to accomplish this. The other two are Jimmy Butler, who averaged 20.0 points, 3.3 assists and 1.4 turnovers with the Bulls in 2014-15, and Tobias Harris, who in 2019-20 with the 76ers averaged 19.6 points, 3.2 assists and 1.4 turnovers.
Vucevic, to put it simply, has gotten better every year he’s been in the league. The best players add pieces to their games each year, which is exactly what he has done since the Magic acquired him in a four-team blockbuster trade in 2012.
When he first arrived, it was his rebounding and post moves that stood out. Then, it was his pick-and-pop mid-range accuracy that launched his game to the next level. Since Clifford took over as Orlando’s head coach, he’s enhanced so many parts of his repertoire, including the 3-point shot, playmaking and even driving, which Clifford says is an underappreciated facet of his comprehensive offensive package.
“The thing about him playing outside the line is, he does two things. It’s not just his shooting. It’s his passing and it’s his playmaking,” Clifford said. “If you guys remember, go back to the bubble, he has an uncanny ability to drive by even perimeter players when they are closing to him. So I think the more he shoots and better he shoots the three, it’s going to open up more (of the) other aspects of his game.”
He may not be as dominant in the post as Joel Embiid, not as crafty of a playmaker as Nikola Jokic, not as accurate from 3-point range as Towns, not the defensive enforcer that Rudy Gobert is and not quite the relentless rebounder that Andre Drummond is, but, arguably, Vucevic might be the most well-rounded center in the game today.
“He’s underrated, period,” Fournier said.
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