Victor Oladipo is the star that Indiana needed

As Victor Oladipo gears up for his first All-Star appearance, now is a good time to take a look at the impact the guard has had on Indiana since his arrival.

June 30, 2017, is a day that Pacers fans once feared would live in infamy. After Paul George made it clear to Kevin Pritchard and the media that he was out the door, Pritchard and Co. had to scramble to find any kind of return on the star who would likely be a one-year rental.

It was expected of Pritchard to grab some draft picks, maybe a young guy or two, and start a rebuild. Instead, he grabbed Domantas Sabonis, a guy who had a rough rookie season in Oklahoma City and Victor Oladipo, a Hoosier who despite being the No. 2 pick in 2014 had yet to take a step into stardom.

Oladipo was the best piece of a trade that was originally viewed as the best the Pacers could get out of a bad situation. Now, he’s the face of the franchise and the leader of a young team with serious ambitions in the next few years.

The numbers speak for themselves,, but Oladipo’s story must begin and end with the qualitative figures. From his singing to his feathery comments, to his commitment to the city of Indianapolis — Oladipo is everything that Pacers fans wanted but couldn’t find in their previous superstar.

His story is still unfolding, but here is everything we’ve seen from the now-All-Star so far.

October: 23.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.0 APG, 63.5 TS%, 45.7 3P%

Like all good books, Oladipo’s tale didn’t take long to get to what’s interesting.

Pacers fans were hoping for at best a fun, fast-paced team that’d probably lose a lot of games. Oladipo stepped right in and showed Indiana that he had no intentions of tanking.

And of course, Oladipo wasted no time in pulling off a feat that George couldn’t: hit a game-winning shot. In what was one of the most memorable games of the year, Oladipo pulled this out of thin air against the Spurs:

It was only October 29, but it was pretty clear to anyone watching that this season was going to be special. Oladipo had the killer instinct to take the last shot for a team he had just inherited, and the team trusted him from then on.

Oladipo has made and missed game-winning shots since, but no one on the roster or in the seats at Bankers Life Fieldhouse wants the ball in anyone’s hands but Oladipo’s with the game on the line.

Of course, that game also gifted us with Oladipo’s rallying cry of the season, his bold proclamation to the city that embraced him from day one.

That performance and his hot start overall netted him Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors. It wouldn’t be his last either.

November: 22.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.3 APG, 55.2 TS%, 42.9 3P%

As things started settling in, the league started taking notice to what Pacers fans had seen from Oladipo in the first few weeks of the season. He wasn’t quite as accurate shooting as he was in the early days of the season, but his 3-point percentage was still bonkers in the month of November.

After seven games, any logical person can wrap up a stretch of excellent performances as a “streak”. But once seven becomes 21, it’s much harder to make that claim.

Oladipo’s first two months as a Pacer were about as picture-perfect as can be, and the team projected to grab about 30 wins all season by many outlets had a 12-10 record heading into December.

And of course, Myles Turner, the team’s defensive anchor, was out for many of those October/November games. Oladipo often had to do it on his own. Regardless, he built on a great start and turned it into a great quarter of a season.

The team had a lot of ups and downs in November, losing four straight and winning five in a row at different points, but Oladipo remained consistent: he never scored less than 15 points in a game in the entire month. In fact, he hasn’t dropped a single-digit scoring game all season.

Consistency has been a staple in a season surrounded by wonder for Oladipo — he already has a franchise record for consecutive games with a steal.

December: 28.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 4.0 APG, 63.0 TS%, 40.6 3P%

In by far his greatest month as an NBA player, Oladipo tore it up to end the calendar year. The Pacers ended up with a record of 7-8 on the month, but it wasn’t for lack of effort on Oladipo’s part. Despite his continued regression from behind the arc, he was able to get to the line frequently, attack the basket and put on some more late-game heroics to lead the team.

No one has forgotten this cold-blooded shot:

He also contributed late to a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which snapped a 13-game winning streak for the Land. At this point, Oladipo thought, “Hey, I’m performing absolute wizardry for this team and getting wins in the process, what can I do next?” and promptly dropped a career-high 47 points in an overtime win against the Nuggets two days later.

At this point, if there was any doubt that Oladipo could put up this production for more than few-week stretches, he put them to bed with his fantastic December. The narrative changed from “is this guy actually legit?” to “is this guy possibly the best guard in the East?”.

January: 21.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 4.6 APG, 58.6 TS%, 30.8 3P%

If anyone wants an obvious, non-analytical stat to show how important Oladipo is to the success of the Indiana Pacers, here’s one: Oladipo missed the last three games of December and the first game of January. The Pacers lost all of those games by a combined total of 54 points. In fact, they’re 0-6 on the year when Oladipo is inactive.

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Despite Oladipo’s dip in shooting accuracy, he was still able to roughly maintain his scoring output from earlier in the year, which is a good sign. Oladipo probably isn’t a 40% 3-point shooter, and the numbers were eventually going to catch up with him.

But his motor refuses to quit, and his fast-paced play style keeps him scoring. For example, Oladipo ranks fourth in the league in points in transition, where he sports an impressive 1.11 points per possession and 62.4 EFG%.

But it was the success of his team that reigned supreme in the story of January. The team went 10-4 on the month, which was their first 10-win month since November of 2015. Knock off Oladipo’s missed game and the star went 10-3 to start 2018. Now Oladipo was known not just as a leader, but a leader of a team in serious playoff contention.

And of course, on January 24, Oladipo got the achievement of his career (so far): his first NBA All-Star Game selection.

February: 28.8 PPG, 6.8 APG, 4.2 RPG, 54.8 TS%, 27.6 3P%

And here we are. Although Oladipo is currently in a bit of a cold streak shooting-wise, he’s still putting monster number five months into his Pacers journey. The team entered the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak, including a win against the 40-win Boston Celtics.

That puts their own record at 33-25 on the year. Being eight games above .500 at any point in the season, let alone February, was a feat that very few predicted the Pacers would pull off going into the year.

Anyone that did was deemed crazy. But the Pacers being a post-season threat is no longer a crazy dream, it’s an oncoming reality. While the final stretch of their schedule is tough, the team’s standing at 5th in the conference right now is promising to any fan hoping for some playoff wins.

His dunk contest performance wasn’t too much to fawn over, but he did give Black Panther fans a slam to be excited about. Tonight, he plays for Team LeBron in the All-Star Game, as he hopes to represent and make Indiana proud as their leader.

The Future for Victor Oladipo

It’s hard to say what the future exactly holds for the 25-year old star, but his value to the team cannot be overstated. In what might be the most telling stat of the 2017-18 Pacers season, the team has a net rating of +7.3 when Oladipo is on the court, and a net rating of -7.5 when Oladipo is off the court.

That’s a difference of 14.8. No, that is not a typo.

This team is simply more comfortable when their star is on the floor. His own personal statistical contributions have remained consistent save for his shooting percentages, and the team rallies around his leadership and positive vibe in the locker room.

Oladipo is far and away the frontrunner for the Most Improved Player award. It’s February 18, but you might as well hand him that trophy right now. He took on his increased usage and turned into a monster for this Pacers team.

In fact, if the Most Valuable Player award was awarded to the actual most valuable player of a team, it’d be hard to argue against what Oladipo does for this Pacers team.

With him, they’re 33-19 on the year. Without him, they’re 0-6 and 14.8 points worse per 100 possessions. Not too many other players in the league can claim that kind of importance to their squad.

The Pacers may make an incredible run in the post-season and they may flop. But Oladipo has already cemented himself as the team’s leader going forward, and that in itself has made this an incredible season for Indiana.

Fitting in the remaining pieces may be difficult, but Oladipo has proven to this team and this city that he’s willing and able to be their guy. Maybe he had a bit of a head start from his Indiana University playing days, but he’s taken on the role of “leader” like a champ.

Next: Victor Oladipo > Kyrie Irving

And in a season that has been full of incredible stories for Pacers players, coaches and fans, the emergence of Oladipo as a bona fide NBA star may be the greatest one. May he enjoy this weekend celebrating that stardom and return to action as the face of the Pacers once his plane lands back in the 317.