Orlando Magic Exercise Nikola Vučević's Third-Year Option

The Orlando Magic have announced their decision to exercise the third-year contract option on 22-year-old center Nikola Vučević, keeping the USC product under Orlando control through at least the 2013/14 season.

Vučević entered the league with the Philadelphia 76ers as the 16th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and averaged 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game as a rookie. Orlando acquired him from Philly in August's four-team, 12-player trade built around Magic center Dwight Howard.

Philadelphia signed Vučević to 120 percent of the rookie-scale contract for his draft slot, according to ShamSports. All first-round picks have their salaries guaranteed for the first two years of their career, with their teams holding individual options on their third and fourth years.

It's rare for teams not to exercise these options--though Orlando did just that with Daniel Orton, the 29th pick in the 2010 Draft--and Vučević is a productive, promising player, so keeping him in the fold for just $1.8 million must have been an easy decision for Magic general manager Rob Hennigan to make.

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