SB Nation's first installment of their NBA Rookie Rankings debuted this morning and Sixers' back up center, Nikola Vucevic, comes in at number 10. Here's what our pal Rohan Cruyff from At The Hive fame had to say about Vooch:
Vucevic is another tough player to judge, simply due to how much of his (highly efficient) offensive play comes within the flow of the team's elite offense. He's been used liberally on the pick and pop, representing a sort of evolutionary Jason Smith for Philly, and he's been connecting with regularity from range (50 percent from 16-23 feet). He's also been one of the best rebounders in this class, coming in only behind Enes Kanter offensively, and third behind Kanter and Boston's Greg Stiemsma defensively.
Vuecvic ranks much lower in ESPN's rookie rankings, 17 to be exact. Here's what David Thorpe had to say about the Sixers rookie two weeks ago:
Jan. 13: Vucevic has been a pleasant surprise for the hot-starting Sixers, finding a way to produce in basically every game he gets to play in. He has appeared in eight of Philly's 10 games, never playing more than 20 minutes, yet he's scored six or more points four times and grabbed five or more rebounds five times. For what it's worth, he currently leads all rookies in PER (21.88) while playing 13.4 minutes a game.
I must say, I've been impressed with Vooch thus far. My only real complaints are, he struggles defensively sometimes and is in the Spencer Hawes mold of big men, as in, attempts most of his shots away from the basket and rarely gets to the line. However; with the 17th pick in a weak draft, Vooch has been about as productive as you can ask for.