Victor Oladipo may not play in Orlando with the Indiana Pacers
According to a recent report from Adrian Wojnarowski, there’s a chance that Victor Oladipo may not play with the Indiana Pacers in Orlando when the NBA season is set to resume in late July.
Victor Oladipo, who only logged 13 games this year and was still regaining his NBA footing when the season was unexpectedly suspended, has some concerns to think about regarding his quad injury.
Sitting out from game action and ramping up quickly to kick the season back off could have rough impacts on any professional athlete’s body, even moreso for Oladipo who is managing a comeback from a pretty rough quad injury.
Oladipo and the Pacers will need to balance the risk and reward together and decide what is safest for him. If he doesn’t play, though, there will be impacts throughout the franchise. Here are four of the biggest things that will be hit.
Pacers impacts of Victor Oladipo sitting: Domantas Sabonis responsibility level
If Victor Oladipo isn’t there, the next man up on the “star” list for the Pacers is Domantas Sabonis, a role he’s been growing into and doing quite nicely with all year.
Sabonis, getting named to his first career All-Star game this season, is not without his flaws on the defensive end, but has been a welcome flotation device for Indiana as they’ve awaited Oladipo’s return for much of the 2019-20 season.
Averaging 18.5 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game, Sabonis has been crucial to the Pacers playoff hopes. While much of his offensive numbers have to be in part credited to Myles Turner due to how well he opens the floor for Sabonis and provides him spacing to do his work on the interior, Sabonis has still been dominant in his own right.
Oladipo is the de facto shot taker in big moments. He showed he was still that in his first game back this season. Can Sabonis take on that role as well?
It’s hard to see that happening with limited range, though he seems to have been working on his 3-point shot during the hiatus.
Sabonis, whether or not he’s the guy in clutch scenarios, will play a crucial role for the Pacers in the postseason whether Oladipo is playing or not. If Oladipo is not playing, the importance of him being “on” every single night will hold even more importance to the Pacers and their hopes of advancing deep in the playoffs.