Indiana Pacers: 15 greatest shooters of all time

When the Pacers shipped Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a package that included former second overall pick Victor Oladipo, many fans and analysts declared the Thunder as the ultimate winners of the swap.

Who could blame them? After all, OKC was getting one of the game’s best two-way players while Indiana was getting a fringe rotation player (Domantas Sabonis) and an underachieving lottery pick from arguably the worst draft of the 21st century. As a result, the Thunder appeared to be championship contenders once again, while the Pacers seemed destined to tank.

Oladipo had other ideas. The Silver Spring, Maryland native worked on his game and retooled his body during that offseason. It paid dividends, as he posted career highs in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.

Additionally, Oladipo continued to improve his 3-point shooting, as his percentage from downtown went from a league-average 36.1 in OKC to 37.1 last season. In particular, he excelled at hitting catch-and-shoot threes (39.4 percent) and when the closest defender was between 4-6 feet away from him (40.7 percent).

Oladipo’s efforts helped the Pacers to a surprising 48-34 record (the same as the Thunder by the way) and the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, ultimately giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a good fight in the first round before falling in seven games.

The Pacers hope he can take another step forward this year. Improving his 3-point makes on pull-ups would be a good start, as it would help improve his already impressive pick-and-roll numbers (0.93 points per possession last year).