Vucevic Came Back Because Bitadze Couldn't Carry It

The gap between Wendell Carter Jr. and whoever came next at center was the quiet problem all season. Carter finished at 11.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game on 50.7% shooting — solid, functional, not a burden. Goga Bitadze behind him averaged 5.6 points in 15 minutes a night. That's a six-point drop to a backup who barely played. When Carter needed rest, Orlando had no answer at the position, and the offense defaulted to Paolo Banchero hunting his own shot.

Nikola Vucevic on a one-year deal is the direct fix for that. He's a veteran who can score in the post, space the floor, and give Sweeney a real second option at center — someone who doesn't force Banchero to manufacture 20 attempts a game just to keep the offense functional. The late-season numbers told the story plainly: Banchero's shot attempts jumped nearly five per game in the final stretch, and his efficiency fell off a cliff. That's what happens when there's no release valve up front.

Sweeney inherits a roster that's mostly intact, which means the Vucevic addition was already in place before he walked in the door. His job now is to build a system around it — one where the center rotation actually distributes the load rather than concentrating it. Whether a one-year veteran signing fully solves that is a fair question. But it's the right question to be asking in late September, not the one Orlando was stuck asking in May.