It has been tough to get a read on Nikola Vucevic since the Celtics traded for him almost a month ago. Some nights, he looks like one of the best bigs in the league, like Friday night against the Nets when he poured in 28 points and 12 rebounds, barely missing a shot all game. But on other nights, he gets abused on the defensive end and doesn’t seem to impact the game at all.
Frankly, that’s probably just the Vooch experience in his age 35 season. Some nights he has it, some nights he doesn’t. Some matchups are exploitable for him, and in some matchups, he can be exploited. And that’s okay.
Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe dove into the situation on Sunday night after the Celtics’ win over the 76ers. Bill described Vucevic as the kind of player you can figure out within the first few minutes of a game. When Vooch comes in off the bench, you can tell if he has it or not pretty quickly, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen.
There have been games when he comes in hot off the bench and carries that throughout the game, but there are other nights when he comes in, fails to impact the game, and ends up being mostly nonexistent. Lowe added that it’s probably for the best that he has found the right role for this point in his career; a clear backup to Neemias Queta, who can make a difference off the bench in spurts, but will get played off the floor in certain matchups.
Vooch will have good games and bad ones
That’s a fine place for Vooch to be, and a fine place for the Celtics to be in. Anyone who thought Vucevic was going to come in and look like the All-Star version of himself from Orlando was obviously a bit over their skis, and anyone who thought he was completely washed and wouldn’t even get minutes over Luka Garza was clearly too pessimistic.
The truth has been found somewhere in between, and that’s still a good weapon for the Celtics to have at their disposal. Once the playoffs start, especially, there are going to be certain games and certain matchups where Vooch comes in and scores a flurry of baskets, but there are going to be other matchups where Joe Mazzulla needs to have a very short leash.
Simmons and Lowe also mentioned how important it is to hide Vucevic’s weaknesses and how vital that will be in the playoffs. We saw a glimpse of it on Sunday when Vooch’s minutes overlapped with the Sixers’ best players. It was ugly, and he had less than zero chance of defending a pick-and-roll involving Tyrese Maxey.
But Vooch was able to eat against the Philly bench lineups, and Boston was able to survive when he was guarding actions that didn’t involve Maxey. This is going to be a common theme, and one we should get used to against elite competition. He’s a great option to have off the bench when we need a spark, and Joe will push that button at times, but there are going to be plenty of games where he spends most of the night glued to the bench.