NEWSLETTER
If DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine are Spongebob and Patrick running with joy, Nikola Vucevic is Squidward watching above from a dark room.
DeRozan and LaVine could not look more like their All-Star selves through the first couple of weeks of the season, being the only two teammates to currently rank inside the league’s top-10 scorers. Vucevic, on the other hand, could not look more out of sync. While his playmaking skills deserve a nod, as does his effort on the defensive end, he has struggled to execute in the area that originally made him one of the league’s elite big men: Scoring the basketball.
Yes, playing alongside LaVine and DeRozan always meant his opportunities would diminish, but the need for his versatile bucket-getting has not gone anywhere. He has remained a fundamental piece of the Bulls offense, holding the team’s third-highest usage rating of 22.2 percent (82nd percentile), which is comfortably ahead of Lonzo Ball’s next closest mark of 19.1 percent (18th percentile).
His teammates and coaching staff’s desire to get him going from opening tip has also been abundantly clear, as Vucevic has averaged the 2nd-most 1st quarter field goal attempts on the team and 12th-most in the league. The problem, however, is that Vucevic has now repeatedly struggled to take advantage of this opportunity. And that all came to a head on Wednesday night.
Nikola Vucevic’s 4-point outing against the 76ers made for his fewest points in a single game since November 20th, 2019. In that matchup with the Toronto Raptors, Vucevic scored just 3 points after playing only 11 minutes of action. Last night, however, Vucevic was on the floor for a hefty 36 minutes, and all the big man could muster was that 2-7 outing.
The 31-year-old now sits with just 13.8 points per game over his first eight contests. Even more discouraging, he is shooting a dismal 38.9 percent from the field and 28.1 percent from downtown. Now, before I go any further, I should probably say that an eight-game sample size gives us no reason to panic. I do believe the law of averages will lead Vucevic back toward his All-Star-caliber shotmaking, but the question is how soon? After all, it’s not like we have seen this slow of a start from him before.
Backtrack all the way to Vucevic’s rookie year, and this is pretty easily the worst eight-game start of his career. Other than a 41.5 percent field goal percentage in 2019-20 and a 46.5 percent field goal percentage in 2012-13 (both of which I’d still take over his 38.9 percent start), Vucevic never dropped below 50 percent over his first eight games. He’s also only averaged as few as 13.8 points to start the season once in the past eight years.
I also can not help but be semi-discouraged by the area on the floor where Vucevic has arguably struggled most. From shots 8ft or less from the basket, he is shooting a super-duper-icky 39.5 percent. How does that compare to seasons past?
Take a look:
2021-22 – 39.5% from 8ft or less
2020-21 – 57.9%
2019-20 – 54.2%
2018-19 – 61.8%
2017-18 – 65.0%
2016-17 – 52.2%
2015-16 – 51.1%
2014-15 – 52.6%
2013-14 – 59.6%
2012-13 – 55.6%
2011-12 – 76.5%
Data via NBA Stats
Bring it even closer to the basket and things are just as grim. While he has never been an amazing back-to-the-basket player or finisher at the rim, he has also never started the season with a 39 percent clip in the restricted area, which ranks in the league’s 2nd percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.
Again, I’m not smashing the panic button on Vucevic (my hand isn’t even near it yet), but this is an uncharacteristic start that is worth mentioning. All parties are going to have to work together to nip this in the bud because there is no denying this team will be that much better when Vucevic finds his former self.
