For the Orlando Magic, as has been the case for quite a while now, it’s all about the future. In Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris and Elfrid Payton, the young core of this group is, in theory at least, destined to stay together and grow for sometime yet.
Throw in veterans like Channing Frye and a still somewhat unknown commodity in Aaron Gordon, and it’s easy to see why a lot of people like the future of this team. Second year guard Victor Oladipo is supposed to be the jewel in the crown, the face of the franchise. But what if he doesn’t get much better as a player as his career continues?
A statement like that is based partly on some numbers, and also partly on thinking the worst about the future. But first, let’s cut Oladipo a little bit of slack here. To begin the campaign, he had a knee sprain before the regular season began, before then suffering a facial fracture on his way back to competitive action.
So it was a beginning in which he was playing catch up with the rest of his teammates. The one word that best describes his season up until late November is probably frustration. It’s not easy to come back in and have the same impact as before, so Oladipo deserves a break here.
With main scoring threat from last season gone, Oladipo has actually seen an upswing in points per game as well so far (15.6 compared to 13.8 last season). He’s seeing much more time at his more familiar role of shooting guard as well which helps. He’s having to set the table less for teammates as a result, and benefits from Payton’s pretty dimes.
His player efficiency rating is up on last season as well. His 15.4 total only just above the league average of 15. To put that into a little bit of context, Harris has a PER of 17.4, while Vucevic’s is a hugely impressive 21.7.
If you watch the Magic play on any given night, there isn’t one occasion I can think of off the top of my head this season since Oladipo returned where he’s been their best player. He’s been good for the team sure, and it’s great to have him on the court. He’s not harming the team in any way and is absolutely a starter.
His defensive prowess, combined with Payton’s similar defensive approach, make their backcourt hard to break down. But isn’t the supposed franchise player supposed to be the best player on the court most nights? If so, that would be Vucevic, with Harris a close second.
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Returning to the numbers, Oladipo isn’t being involved in all areas of the game as he was last season. His rebounds are down (3.7) as are his rebounds (3.8 although in fairness he’s not playing the point guard role nearly as much, which would have swollen that number last year).
His shooting has improved across the board (he’s a 45 percent shooter) and his slight increase in usage rate has been for the most part efficient as well. Again, he’s not harming this team in any way and he hasn’t regressed to Tyreke Evans level proportions or anything like that. But is it wrong to want more from him?
There have been games since his return, where the Magic are just crying out for somebody to take the game by the scruff of the neck and haul the team back into it. Vucevic tries and sometimes succeeds, but this is supposed to be something Oladipo should be doing more of himself. His recent outburst against the Chicago Bulls to me was more of a blip than a trend.
He’s great at getting to the cup, yet still doesn’t do it as much as he should. Yes, this is only his second year in the league, and maybe I am expecting too much, too soon. It’s just his rookie year was so promising, I kind of expected him to come back from injury with a bang and play a bigger role right away.
I know I’m in the minority here, but his play so far feeds into a theory I’ve had since early in his rookie season. I don’t think Oladipo should be the face of this team, the go to guy, the star player. Right now he’s the most marketable player the team has, coming off a great rookie season, so I get why he’s in that position.
He comes across well with the media and is a hard-working guy, extra reasons why some feel he can be the Magic’s best player.
I don’t see him that way. In the not too distant future, I’d love to see Orlando go out and get a top level scorer, or a second tier superstar, to pair with Oladipo. With his defensive abilities and all round athleticism, having him as a second option makes a ton more sense to me. He’s not the most natural scorer in the world, and having him as your main scoring threat could lead to trouble.
Why not have him as the second guy, giving you 15-6-6 in a much more well-rounded display. Leave the bulk of the scoring to a more establish star, while Oladipo quietly does the rest. I feel we would see the best of him then.
What I’ve seen so far this season only seems to back this belief up of me. Usually true star players emerge in their third season, and who is to say Oladipo won’t do the same. As mentioned above injuries have derailed him season as well.
But the strong feeling I’m beginning to get is that he’ll be a dependable sort who occasionally explodes on a given night, while also being this team’s biggest triple-double threat. As for the go to guy in a crunch time situation? Not from what we’ve seen this season, and that’s alright.
It will be interesting to see if he gets some real help either this summer or next, so we can really see how he adapts to playing with a star player. My guess would be, extremely well.