Tobias Harris and Nik Vucevic made it clear Monday: Each said he wants to sign a contract extension with the Orlando Magic by the Oct. 31 deadline to do so.
“Obviously, I want to be here,” Harris, a 22-year-old forward, said during the Magic’s annual media day at Amway Center.
“But I think I’ll just go out there and play basketball. I’ll let my agent handle all that. I know they’ve been having some talks, but I don’t really get too involved in it. I don’t want to use that as something to lose my focus. I’m about my team and about winning games this year and helping my team win games.”
Because Harris and Vucevic are former first-round picks who are entering their fourth NBA seasons, they’re allowed under league rules to sign contract extensions that would take effect with the 2015-16 season. But any extensions must be formalized by Oct. 31.
“I’ll leave that up to my agent and the team,” Vucevic, a 23-year-old center, said. “I’m just trying to focus on the team, trying to focus on this training camp first and then the season. Like I’ve said before, I’d like to stay here. I love it here.”
Magic GM Rob Hennigan has said he hopes to reach contract extensions with both players “if it makes sense for everybody.”
Even if the Magic don’t reach extensions with Harris and Vucevic, the team still would have a built-in advantage to retain both players. Harris and Vucevic would be on track to become restricted free agents during the summer of 2015, which would allow the Magic to match any offer sheet either player signs from another team.
Letting Harris and Vucevic reach restricted free agency could be dangerous, because other teams would have the chance to make lucrative offers. Vucevic, especially, could gain significant interest on the open market because he’s a young, productive player at a position where quality players are in short supply.
Eye toward 2017
Magic CEO Alex Martins said Orlando has told the NBA it’s interested in hosting the 2017 All-Star Game.
The Magic last hosted the exhibition in Feb. 2012. Orlando had made a bid to host the 2016 All-Star Game, but that game was awarded to Toronto.
“What we’ve been told, quite honestly, by the league is that at this point in time it’s getting a little bit more competitive,” Martins said.
“You’ve got teams who have new buildings coming online in that kind of timeframe that are interested, and it makes the process a little bit more competitive. So we’ll just have to see. We’ll have to see what the league wants to do in terms of rewarding those cities that have built new buildings and also getting to those cities that they want to get to on a regular basis.”
All healthy
The Magic have no significant lingering injuries, and all players on the roster are available to participate in the opening practice of training camp on Tuesday, Hennigan said.
jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
