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After an 82-game grind, it would have been easy for Orlando Magic center Nik Vučević to take the summer off to relax following the 2012/13 NBA season. The 22-year-old logged 2559 minutes in his second professional season, his first with Orlando, more than tripling his minutes as a rookie on the fringes of Doug Collins' playing rotation with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Instead of taking that break, however, Vučević has continued to work in the gym in advance of EuroBasket, for which competition he'll represent Montenegro alongside Minnesota Timberwolves center Nikola Peković. Montenegro's first game is against Macedonia on September 4th.
"I think it will make my job a lot easier playing with a big man like Peković," Vučević said in an interview with Robert White, which appears on the official EuroBasket website. "He's a very dominant player, very physical."
Vučević says he took "some time off" when the Magic's season ended in April, but since then he has worked out in Orlando "with most of the guys that are playing NBA Summer League." He'll re-join the Montenegrin team on August 1st.
Notably, Vučević said he's most looking forward to a matchup with Spain against Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol. Spain isn't on Monetegro's schedule, but the two teams could meet depending on how the tournament goes.
"I'd like to play against Marc Gasol," Vučević said. "[He's] someone I didn't play well against in the NBA and I'd like to play better against him because he's one of the best big men in the world."
In April, Vučević told John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com that he'd like to pattern his game after Gasol's.
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