Victor Oladipo: Dan Gilbert’s remarks “added fuel to the fire” after trade
By Ben Gibson
Victor Oladipo says it was added motivation when he heard Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s remarks after the Indiana Pacers traded for him.
The Cleveland Cavaliers had all but sealed the deal for Paul George when Kevin Pritchard pulled the trigger on a different trade that brought in Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to the Indiana Pacers.
Soon after, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said, “I will say Indiana could have done better than they did.”
Victor Oladipo did not take those comments lightly. When asked about it after Game 1, the Pacers star said it served as motivation for him.
“No… I already had fuel… You could say it added fuel to the fire, I guess you could say. But that was so long ago. It came up recently, obviously, because we were playing the Cavs in the series, but I’m aware of what he said. Can’t control his opinion. All I’m focused on is myself and becoming the best Victor Oladipo possible.”
Later, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski added more context to Gilbert’s original comments as well as revealing the Cavaliers owner passed on selecting Oladipo in the 2013 draft. The Cavaliers took Anthony Bennett instead.
Gilbert’s comments could have been about either. Popular opinion at the time was that the Pacers got fleeced by the Oklahoma City Thunder. But Gilbert very easily could have been talking about how the Pacers handled the failed deal for Kevin Love. If the Denver Nuggets, Cavaliers, and Pacers were that close to making a deal, it is easy to understand Gilbert’s frustrations.
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Regardless of his true intent of Gilbert’s words, they might come back to haunt him if the Pacers can shock the world by knocking off the Cavaliers.
But getting back to the 2013 draft, the idea of Victor Oladipo on the Cavaliers opens up a multitude of what ifs.
- Do the Cavaliers still struggle and get Anthony Wiggins with the first pick in the 2014 draft?
- Do they still trade Wiggins for Love? Does the trade include Oladipo?
- Does Oladipo still reach the level in Cleveland that he has with the Pacers?
- Would the Cavaliers have had a core of Kyrie Irving, Victor Oladipo, LeBron James, and Kevin Love to face the Golden State Warriors?
- Who would the Pacers have been dealing with when Paul George wanted to leave?
Not only would Cleveland avoided a complete bust of a draft pick, they potentially would have fielded four All-Star players in their starting lineup. And from Indiana’s side, they wouldn’t have a player that is the cornerstone of their current team.
It’s an interesting conversation, but ultimately things worked out well for both teams as far as what’s happened since 2013. Cleveland won a title and the Pacers have a star that might stick with the team for the long-term.
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However, if Cleveland could go back to last summer, they surely would have pushed the trade for George and sent Love to Denver. The Pacers would be rebuilding around Gary Harris and we wouldn’t be talking about Indiana’s Game 1 victory over the Cavaliers.