Revisiting the Vucevic Trade, 2 Years Later

ogmagicfan · Post #1 » by **ogmagicfan** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 2:24 pm

With the trade deadline approaching, I thought it'd be good to revisit the most important trade the Magic have made in recent history.

Magic Received:
Wendell Carter Jr
2021 1st Round Pick (Franz Wagner)
2023 1st Round Pick (Top 4 Protected) - Currently slotted for the 8th Pick
Otto Porter Jr

Bulls Received:
Nikola Vucevic
Al-Farouq Aminu

When the trade happened, the board was 60/40 in favor from my memory, with posters either being like finally we start a rebuild, or mad because they thought we had potential to create a better team around our current group and angst around rebuilding again, even though the team was never going to take us to contender status.

Clearly the trade is seen as a unanimous huge win for the Magic, and the gift that keeps giving with us slated to get another top 10 pick (currently 8th) in a deep draft.

Feel free to chime in how you felt when the trade happened, and how you feel now about the trade.

Post #2 » by **eyriq** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 2:48 pm

https://nbarankings.theringer.com/trade-value

WCJ is an Honorable mention
Franz is #25

Vucevic isn't even listed.

I'd say this trade was lopsided af in retrospect

Edit: As regards my feelings on the trade, I was disgusted with the Vucevic, Gordon, Fournier core and hated the treadmill team. I loved that we moved to blow it up.

j_n · Post #3 » by **j_n** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 2:51 pm

Well, I didn't like that we're taking the route of another rebuild but didn't hate the return so I was OK with the trade.

Needless to say it turned out better than expected, we got a higher pick than expected and also got the biggest steal of the draft in Franz.

In addition WCJ turned out better than expected, Vuc regressed and this year's pick could also end up in the lottery so things that were out of our control turned this already good trade into a heist.

The Bulls are in a bad spot right now, their core will lead them nowhere but because their GM has to save face and not give us another high pick they will do anything to stay competitive instead of starting a rebuild, which is crazy because that pick is sunk cost while their biggest asset in Derozan is losing his value with every passing game, eventually they will start a rebuild probably in the upcoming off-season with almost no assets or young talent.

BadMofoPimp · Post #4 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 2:51 pm

Franz > Vooch

basketballRob · Post #5 » by **basketballRob** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 2:56 pm

The day Vuc got traded was possibly my second best memory as a Magic fan. The first being winning the Shaq lottery. The Nick Anderson steal is up there.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

ogmagicfan · Post #6 » by **ogmagicfan** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 3:53 pm

I personally loved the trade when it happened, because we got 2 1st rounders for Vuc when most thought he was only going to get 1 1st

I also despised watching that team playing basketball. Offensively we were so hard to watch, it was disgusting. Just buddy ball btwn Vuc & Fournier and Gordon trying to do too much offensively. I practically stopped watching Magic games for years because there was no hope for our team, it was a fringe playoff team at its best.

The sky is the limit with our team now, with top young talent in Paolo & Franz, good young talent in WCJ & Suggs and players who can round out the team in Isaac, Bol Bol & Cole with crazy flexibility, big cap space and more top picks coming in

fendilim · Post #7 » by **fendilim** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 4:00 pm

If the Bulls pick lands top 1 or 2, they may still win this trade. Lol

VFX · Post #8 » by **VFX** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 4:14 pm

fendilim wrote:If the Bulls pick lands top 1 or 2, they may still win this trade. Lol

How?

If it lands 1 or 2 is just means they were bad enough to get better odds. That doesn’t really involve the Magic at all and doesn’t have anything to do with the initial trade. Chicago being trash wasn’t in consideration when the trade was made as they were loading up.

I wouldn’t trade Franz for Vucevic, and Carters deal is godly compared to a majority of starting Centers.

CZ Eddie · Post #9 » by **CZ Eddie** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 4:38 pm

eyriq wrote:https://nbarankings.theringer.com/trade-value

WCJ is an Honorable mention
Franz is #25

Vucevic isn't even listed.

I'd say this trade was lopsided af in retrospect

Edit: As regards my feelings on the trade, I was disgusted with the Vucevic, Gordon, Fournier core and hated the treadmill team. I loved that we moved to blow it up.

holy moly, I just learned there was another Bird
And we're not talking about Sue

Watch on YouTube

drsd · Post #10 » by **drsd** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 4:39 pm

That Orlando got rid of Fournier (for whatever): that also ended up as a good trade given his stark decline.

Gordon is a bit harder. Clearly Orlando "lost" this trade. But I am not sure there was value in retaining him. But if Orlando had traded Isaac instead, one can wonder what path the team would have landed at. Still, personally, I was most "happy" to have gone rid of Gordon over Fournier and Vučević. What do I know?

AaronB · Post #11 » by **AaronB** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 5:48 pm

I think that the trade was worth it just to get off of Aminu's bloated contract.

Skybox · Post #12 » by **Skybox** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 5:53 pm

CZ Eddie wrote:
eyriq wrote:https://nbarankings.theringer.com/trade-value
holy moly, I just learned there was another Bird
And we're not talking about Sue

Watch on YouTube

Weh

When Eddie and the ISU team played Boston U., I was a student there...Larry showed up and was the highlight of the evening. I don't remember who won, but BU was pretty good those years, twice making it to the NCAA's to get stomped by Duke and Danny Ferry (tied at halftime once). Our star and all-time leading scorer was none other than Dredrick Irving, who later had a son named Kyrie.

dsg2021 · Post #13 » by **dsg2021** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 7:34 pm

Really loved the trade immediately. It was a big haul to me right away. And it was a sigh of relief that proved teams and other people don’t think the same as RealGM boards. By the standards of the board back then, Vooch would have needed to be included with two Second Rounders to get a Top-20 Protected First and nothing else. We might have overplayed a little with Evan and T Ross because they were really balling out at points too. But maybe trading one of them 1 month or 6 months earlier than Vooch would have stated our rebuild clearly and lost us some leverage with the biggest possible trade deal from the old core (selling Vooch at peak value).

Skin · Post #14 » by **Skin** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 7:55 pm

Big big win for WeHam

zaymon · Post #15 » by **zaymon** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 8:17 pm

We bet that Bulls will struggle after deadline trade and our bet payed huge dividents. We also won the lottery game, and picked the right player. The results of the trade are much better than the trade itself, altough i thought we won it from the beginning.

RookieStar · Post #16 » by **RookieStar** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 8:43 pm

One of the best trades in our franchise I think..

Optimus_Steel · Post #17 » by **Optimus_Steel** » Sat Feb 4, 2023 9:01 pm

dsg2021 wrote:Really loved the trade immediately. It was a big haul to me right away. And it was a sigh of relief that proved teams and other people don’t think the same as RealGM boards. By the standards of the board back then, Vooch would have needed to be included with two Second Rounders to get a Top-20 Protected First and nothing else. We might have overplayed a little with Evan and T Ross because they were really balling out at points too. But maybe trading one of them 1 month or 6 months earlier than Vooch would have stated our rebuild clearly and lost us some leverage with the biggest possible trade deal from the old core (selling Vooch at peak value).

I remember people saying that would have to give him away or include assets. I was excited about the haul as soon as I heard it, although I was low on Wendell himself as I saw him as another Bamba, he changed my opinion of him with his play in Orlando.

Max Power · Post #18 » by **Max Power** » Sun Feb 5, 2023 1:02 am

I remember not being happy at all with the trade initially. I was and still am a Vucevic fan, and I felt the team were a piece or two from being pretty good. I knew nothing about WCJ at the time and didn’t really think the picks would amount to much with an improving Bulls squad on paper.

Once the Gordon and Fournier trades went down obviously the team was creating a clean slate and I got excited to watch a fresh rebuild.

richi_v25 · Post #19 » by **richi_v25** » Sun Feb 5, 2023 2:10 am

Max Power wrote:I remember not being happy at all with the trade initially. I was and still am a Vucevic fan, and I felt the team were a piece or two from being pretty good. I knew nothing about WCJ at the time and didn’t really think the picks would amount to much with an improving Bulls squad on paper.

Once the Gordon and Fournier trades went down obviously the team was creating a clean slate and I got excited to watch a fresh rebuild.

I too was a Vuc fan and i loved that he wanted to be in Orlando bc that's unheard-of for an all star Magic center. Gordon and fournier not so much, i was happy to see them go but in the end it was Vuc that really boosted our rebuild. Love where this team is now and might be heading

anothermagicfan · Post #20 » by **anothermagicfan** » Sun Feb 5, 2023 5:35 am

I was and still am a fan of Vuc. After all the terrible terrible losing I was excited to see what that core could do with fultz and Isaac but knees happen and teams get blown up. I think we all knew as constricted it wasn't championship caliber but the Vuc trade turned out great. Fournier has definitely dropped off but I feel like he was the one that could've gotten us a bit more. From a team that so desperately lacks 3 point shooting he did give us that. Kinda ironic that most of this board complains about vuc and fournier buddy ball and now most of this board complains about needing 3 point shooting. I liked Gordon in the beginning but he never really got any better. He came off as cocky and arrogant and I viewed his trade as addition by subtraction regardless of who that Denver pick turns into