Nikola Vučević (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Никола Вучевић, pronounced [nǐkola ʋûːtʃeʋitɕ]; born 24 October 1990), nicknamed Vooch, is a Montenegrin professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the USC Trojans before being drafted 16th overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Vučević, who spent his rookie season with the 76ers, was traded to the Magic before the start of the 2012–13 season as a part of the four-team trade that sent Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers. He played nine seasons for the Magic and was named an NBA All-Star twice during his tenure with the team. In the middle of the 2020–21 season, the Magic traded Vučević to the Chicago Bulls. After five seasons, he was traded to the Boston Celtics in 2026.
Vučević was born in Morges, Switzerland, during the time his father, Borislav Vučević, was playing professionally in the country. His mother is Ljiljana Kubura. He was primarily raised in Belgium, where the family moved in 1992 when his father signed a professional contract there. The Vučević family moved to Montenegro within the Serbia and Montenegro state union in 2003, settling in the coastal town of Bar, his father's hometown. Identifying youth basketball work in Belgium to be inferior compared to that in the Balkan countries, his father moved the family to Montenegro to give Vučević a better chance at developing his basketball skills. He began training within KK Mornar's youth system while his father simultaneously took over a youth team coaching post at the club.
In January 2006, while returning home to Bar from the KK Mornar youth team winter training in Kolašin, fifteen-year-old Vučević and his father survived the Bioče derailment, a train crash in Montenegro that killed 47 people and injured nearly 200 others.
In 2007, Vučević was named Montenegro's Best Young Player.
Vučević moved to Simi Valley, California in the United States in October 2007 to play his senior year of high school at Stoneridge Prep. He knew little English, but did speak French, which many of his teammates also spoke. Under coach Babacar Sy, a friend of his father's, he was team captain and led the team in scoring and rebounding with 18 points and 12 rebounds per game.
Vučević played three seasons with the Trojans of the University of Southern California.
Vučević missed the first eight games of the season while waiting to have his amateur status confirmed by the NCAA Clearinghouse. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 23 games in three starts. Vučević played in his first game with USC on December 15, 2008, against Pepperdine, and had two points, two blocks and two rebounds in six minutes. He made his first start of the season on January 24, 2009, at Washington State in the Trojans' 46–44 win with a season-high eight points and five rebounds. He also scored eight points on February 9, 2009 at UCLA, and in his second start of the season on 19 February against Washington State. Vučević had a season-best seven rebounds in that game and matched that total on March 5, 2009, vs. Oregon. Vučević scored six points and had four rebounds in the NCAA second-round loss to Michigan State on March 22. In all, he made 57.8 percent of his shots from the field (26-for-45).
Vučević began to excel in his sophomore season. He scored 18 points and had eight rebounds in the first game of the season against UC Riverside on November 17, 2009, both totals better than any of his freshman games. Vučević had 18 points and 14 rebounds at Texas on December 3, 2009. He scored a career-high 19 points and had 11 rebounds versus Loyola Marymount on November 21, 2009, for his first career double-double. He matched his career high with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting at UCLA on January 16, 2010, scoring 17 points in the second half. By the end of the year, he had led USC in scoring five times and in rebounding 20 times, including the last nine games.
Overall, he was the second-best scorer and leading rebounder on the Trojans, with 10.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Vučević led the Pac-10 with 283 rebounds and offensive rebounds per game (6.3) and his 39 blocks were the fourth most in the conference. Vučević's .504 shooting percentage (126 for 250) led USC and was seventh best in the Pac-10. Vučević was named the 2009–10 Pac-10 Most Improved Player, and earned all-Pac-10 second-team and Pac-10 honorable-mention all-defensive team honors. He had the second-most blocks ever in a season by a Trojan sophomore and the third-most rebounds. Vučević started all 30 games for USC and posted 10 double-doubles.
As a junior, Vučević averaged 17.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He was picked to the Fourth Team All-America by Fox Sports and was named to the All-Pac-10 first team. In March 2011, Vučević announced that he would give up his senior year to enter the NBA draft. The website NBAdraft.net projected him as the 23rd pick in the draft.
During his three-season career with the Trojans, Vučević averaged 11.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
On June 23, 2011, Vučević was drafted with the 16th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. During the 2011 NBA lockout, Vučević played for Montenegrin team Budućnost Podgorica.
Philadelphia 76ers (2011–2012)
Following the conclusion of the lockout, Vučević returned to the United States and signed his rookie scale contract with the 76ers on December 9, 2011. On February 22, 2012, Vučević scored a season-high 18 points in a loss to the Houston Rockets.
On August 10, 2012, Vučević was traded to the Orlando Magic as a part of the blockbuster four-team deal that sent Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers. On December 31, 2012, in an overtime loss to the Miami Heat, Vučević set a franchise record with 29 rebounds. On April 10, 2013, he recorded his second straight 20/20 game with a career-high 30 points and 20 rebounds in a 113–103 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
On November 6, 2013, Vučević recorded a career-high-tying 30 points and 21 rebounds in a 98–90 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Vučević's strong play over the second half of the 2013–14 season was noticeable on March 28, 2014 when he dominated the Charlotte Bobcats. He overcame a slow start shooting the ball to finish the game with 24 points and 23 rebounds in an overtime victory. Vučević made nine of his last 11 shots to lead a Magic rally in the second half, while also grabbing 16 first-half rebounds and 10 offensive boards in the game, marking the sixth 20-point, 20-rebound game of his career. On 31 March, Vučević earned his first Eastern Conference Player of the Week honor, after he led the Magic to a 2–1 week. He logged a double-double average with 22.7 points (sixth in the conference) and a league-leading 14.3 rebounds. He posted a point–rebound double-double in all three contests. Vučević became the first Magic player to win the Eastern Player of the Week honors since Dwight Howard in 2012.
On October 23, 2014, Vučević signed a four-year, $53 million contract extension with the Magic. On April 3, 2015, he scored a career-high 37 points in a 97–84 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.