#8 He leads NBA in field goals made
Vucevic’s 182 made shots is the most in the NBA so far. The last true center to lead the league in field goals made for an entire season was Shaquille O’Neal in the 2000-01 campaign.
#7 He’s tied for fourth in double-doubles
Vucevic has recorded 13 double-doubles so far, tied with Rudy Gobert for the fourth most. Only Nikola Jokic, Domantas Sabonis and Andre Drummond have more than him.
#6 He leads NBA in top of the key 3-pointers
Vucevic has knocked down 32 threes from the top, seven more than second-placed Stephen Curry, the greatest shooter in league history. Among players who have attempted at least 40 straightaway threes, Vucevic has the best percentage (45 percent on 71 attempts).
#5 He’s averaging under two fouls per game
One of Vucevic’s underrated qualities is his discipline on defense. Right now, he is averaging 1.7 fouls per game, which ranks No. 1 among Eastern Conference starting centers and No. 2 overall. Only Al Horford, who has played in nine fewer games than Vucevic, has a lower per game average.
#4 He’s averaging under two turnovers per game
Along those same lines of avoiding careless mistakes, Vucevic is averaging just 1.5 turnovers per game, remarkable considering he has the ball in his hands quite often. Last season, he did something no center had ever done since turnovers became an official stat in 1977, which was average at least 19 points and three assists while turning the ball over fewer than 1.5 times per game, per Stathead.
#3 He leads NBA in pick-and-roll (roll-man) points by a wide margin
Vucevic has scored 121 of his 449 points so far in pick-and-roll, 24 more than Gobert, who is second in this category. Vucevic also had the most pick-and-roll points in 2018-19 and was second behind Sabonis last season.
#2 He’s second in East among centers in scoring
Only Joel Embiid, a top three MVP candidate, has a better scoring average than Vucevic among centers in the East. The Magic big man is averaging a career-best 23.6 points, and he’s doing that while taking just a shade over 2.1 free throws per game. If the season ended today, Vucevic would be the first player in NBA history to average at least 23 points while taking fewer than three foul shots per game.
#1 He might be the greatest 3-point shooting center ever
In his first five seasons in the NBA, Vucevic was a non-threat from 3-point distance. In fact, he took only 26 threes combined those years. Gradually, through his hard work and dedication to his craft, he extended his range and is now the most lethal long-range shooter at his position. The 30-year-old is currently shooting 44.4 percent from downtown, the same percentage as Kevin Durant, one of the best scorers of all time.
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