I always sort of thought that a midrange jumper-ilation for Nikola Vucevic would be cool, but it seems like the time for that has passed: this year, only thirty percent of his field goals are from the ten feet to three-point range, whereas two years ago, that number was closer to fifty percent. I could still make one for old time’s sake, but that would be a little bit like making a Stephen Curry three-ilation when he’s 38 years old and only making one per game.
I blame the three-point line for this one. Vucevic always had reliable range all the way out the deepest of the deep midrange shots, so he took it one step further and now he’s true stretch five. That might be good news for his future in the NBA and the size of his next contract, but it’s bad for somebody like me who was eager to watch Chris Bosh 0.9 (minus the clots and defense) splash eighteen-footers all night.