Nikola Vucevic Signing One-Year Deal With Magic

The Magic are believed to be limited to minimum signings because of their tax and apron constraints, according to Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Twitter link). Because Vucevic has 10-plus years of NBA service, the exact value of the new deal will be $3,876,529, but he will only count as $2.4MM on Orlando’s cap sheet, Gozlan adds (Twitter link). The Magic are $7.4MM away from the second apron and can fill their roster without exceeding it.

Vucevic will take the place of Moritz Wagner, who is signing with Brooklyn in free agency.

Vucevic has played for four teams during his 15 NBA seasons, but he had his best years with the Magic from 2013-2021. He was a two-time All-Star and one of the league’s top-scoring big men during that stretch.

He continued to be productive after being shipped to Chicago in 2021, and was moved to Boston at this year’s trade deadline. He missed time with an injury and was only able to appear in 16 regular season games with the Celtics.

Vucevic will likely be the primary backup to Wendell Carter Jr. in Orlando. The team is also expected to re-sign Jonathan Isaac, who was waived last week.