In 2013, life was extremely good for shooting guard Victor Oladipo. Oladipo was in his junior season with the Indiana Hoosiers and he took home several personal accolades. Oladipo was first-team All-American, while also being named as the Big Ten Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year as he helped the Hoosiers reach the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
Oladipo then had a decision to make as he would forgo his final year at Indiana to pursue a career in the NBA. And the Orlando Magic thought enough of Oladipo that they would make him the second overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft.
Heading into the NBA, Oladipo was pegged by most scouts as being the next Dwyane Wade. Wade has helped the Miami Heat win three NBA Titles, and he and Oladipo possess similar physical builds, while their games somewhat mirror one another. And the comparisons run deeper as both played collegiately for Tom Crean, while each player also entered the NBA Draft after their respective junior years.
As a rookie, Oladipo would average 13.8 points per game to make the NBA’s All-Rookie team. In three seasons with the Magic, Oladipo would average 15.9 points per game, but it wasn’t enough to turn around this franchise in Orlando which was one of the worst in the NBA.
In 2016, Oladipo would be traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a deal that would send center Serge Ibaka to Orlando. With the Thunder, Oladipo would be placed in the backcourt with point guard Russell Westbrook. With Oladipo at his side, Westbrook would be named as the NBA’s MVP as he became only the second player in league history to average a triple-double for an entire season. In one season with the Thunder, Oladipo would average 15.9 points per contest, but it wasn’t enough to help the Thunder have postseason success as they were eliminated in the first round of the NBA Playoffs by the Houston Rockets.
After the season Oladipo was on the move again as he was traded to the Indiana Pacers. The center piece of the deal was small forward Paul George who was set to team with Westbrook and small forward Carmelo Anthony in Oklahoma City. But the play of Oladipo this season has made sure that the trade was anything but one-sided.
With the Pacers, Oladipo has taken his game to the next level as he is averaging career-highs in points per game (24.3), rebounds (5.3), assists (4), and steals (2). With Oladipo, the Pacers have surprised many of the so called experts who didn’t expect the Pacers to be in contention this season after they traded George. However the Pacers are currently 32-25 which is good enough for second place in the Central Division as they are only two games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, while they are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
This season those comparisons between Wade and Oladipo are more realistic as the youngster has new life with the Pacers. Under head coach Nate McMillan, Oladipo is playing like a man that is no longer inhibited by being something that he isn’t. Unlike the Magic, the Pacers are a better run organization, and Oladipo didn’t walk through the door in Indianapolis with a ton of expectations attached to him. With Indiana, it also isn’t a situation like the one that he encountered in Oklahoma City where he was playing in the backcourt with a player in Westbrook who didn’t make the players around him better. Oladipo flew under the radar upon arriving in Indiana and he’s now playing on a team that has balance.
With the Pacers, Oladipo is playing alongside a pair of talented young big men in centers Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis as each player has made the other better. It’s the classic “set ’em up, and knock ’em down” formula as when Sabonis and Turner are taking care of business in the post, Oladipo gets them the basketball. And when Oladipo is on top of his game, just get him the basketball and get out of his way.
During the first month of the season, Oladipo averaged 23.9 points per contest which included going for 35 points in a 114-96 loss versus his former team in the Thunder. But Oladipo knows how to put up big numbers and help the Pacers win as on December 8, he scored 33 points in a win over the Cavs, and he followed this up by going for 47 points in Indiana’s very next game which resulted in a victory over the Denver Nuggets. This past Friday night, Oladipo exploded for 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals as the Pacers were able to go on the road and get a victory over the top team in the Eastern Conference in the Boston Celtics. And in the Pacers 121-113 victory over the New York Knicks tonight, Oladipo just missed out on a triple-double as he had 30 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds.
Oladipo’s season has not gone unnoticed as he was selected to his first All-Star team which means that he’ll have the opportunity to rub elbows with George whom he was traded for, and Westbrook who he played with. Oladipo has always produced in the NBA, but sometimes there is too much pressure that is placed on players as they arrive to the NBA. It takes some players longer than others to fully develop; especially if they are not playing for great organizations which is a category that Oladipo falls into. And even when you put the individual stats of Oladipo aside, he is now part of something special with the Pacers.
The Pacers have three victories over the Cavaliers this season which is not an accident as Indiana has a solid system in place. Six of the last seven seasons have seen the Pacers reach the playoffs, while team advisor Donnie Walsh knows how to find talent that others may have glazed over. Oladipo is definitely in the running the be the NBA’s Most Improved Player this season, and he is a classic example of what happens when players are not put in the correct situation, along with teams prematurely giving up on them.
Source: Basketball-reference.com
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