The Chicago Bulls are visiting Orlando for the first time this season. This made Nikola Vucevic plunge into warm reminiscences about his former team.
The 31-year-old Montenegrin center remembered the way he got traded to the Bulls last season after nine years with the Magic. According to him, the trade was not unexpected and has only fond memories of Orlando.
Via Joe Cowley of Chicago Sun Times:
‘‘Yeah, it wasn’t a situation where they traded me out of nowhere,’’ Vucevic said of the deal that sent him from the Magic to the Bulls last season. ‘‘It was something that we discussed a lot, and it was mutually agreed. It wasn’t a situation where they told me I wasn’t going to get traded and then I get traded. A lot of it came from my communication with them, so it wasn’t a surprise for me.
‘‘Never will I ever have any bad feelings toward Orlando; it will always be positive. It was time for the team to go in a different direction. It was time for something new to happen. It wasn’t working the way we wanted, and I think it worked out for both parties in the end.’’
This season, Vucevic is averaging 13.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game for the Magic. His team is currently in third position in the Eastern Conference with 12 wins and 7 losses.
Meanwhile, the Magic find themselves at the bottom of the East, with just 4 wins in 19 games.
