Orlando Magic: No Victor Oladipo, No Problem
By Luke Duffy
Don’t let that above headline fool you, the news that Victor Oladipo will likely miss the first month of regular season action with the Orlando Magic is a concern. He’s the face of the franchise, the reigning rookie of the year shooting guard who is meant to be at the forefront of Orlando being a better team this year.
The former Indiana player suffered a facial fracture during a practice last week that did require surgery. Adding this to the strained MCL in his knee he already had, it’s not the ideal start to the year for player of club. But could this in fact be a blessing in disguise for the team?
All right, so it’s clear we’re trying to put a positive slant on what is some bad news here, but certainly there are worse things that could have happened. This wasn’t a serious injury that could have long term implications, you don’t hear of recurring facial fractures in basketball players and for it to begin happening with Oladipo would be more than unlucky.
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But this team played in the preseason without their rising star, and they looked decent in the process. We don’t gauge preseason games as a true testament to how a team will do this coming season, the defending champion San Antonio Spurs did lose to Alba Berlin of Germany, after all.
This isn’t a Magic team that has a designs of playing in the the NBA Finals next spring, and making the playoffs seems a bit of a stretch as well. So it’ll more than likely be back to the lottery for them, so losing Oladipo now won’t hurt any short term ambitions for the team.
If anything it will give others a opportunity to shine, and that is something that could happen especially with two players on this team. Forward Tobias Harris has looked promising in preseason, a leaner and more explosive finishing touch around the basket noticeable. His first couple of years in the league, he wasn’t a bad offensive player, but you wouldn’t be relying on him to score you out of a hole either.
In preseason he was scoring in a variety of ways, and in general looked a more complete player. There was quite a bit expected of Harris when he came to the Magic from the Milwaukee Bucks, and it would be fair to say he hasn’t always delivered.
In his defense, however, it would also be true to say he’s been a part of some pretty poor Orlando teams. But the timing now seems perfect for him, doing a lot more of the heavy lifting with Oladipo now out for a little while.
The other player who stands to potentially gain the most from this is rookie point guard Elfrid Payton. During Summer League and preseason he looked really good, even if he did make the usual rookie mistakes like turning the ball over frequently and struggling to adapt to the pace of the game.
But with Payton there appears to be somewhat of an old head on young shoulders, a guy who isn’t fazed by anything he sees and is already learning to break the game down so he can play it at his speed. Whether or not he’ll start on opening night against the New Orleans Pelicans remains to be seen, but Oladipo could have acted as some sort of a safety blanket.
Now however, Payton will come under the microscope a little bit more, and that’s no bad thing. As mentioned, he seems ready to face any challenge, and leading this team to some wins from the one spot will be the most challenging thing he will have ever done on a basketball court.
His defensive abilities also mean Oladipo’s fantastic defending may not be missed quite as much either, what a bonus that would be. No matter what though, it’ll be a chance to see the player who will probably be Oladipo’s backcourt mate for the next half decade at least gain a little early momentum as he has a bigger role in this team than he would of if Oladipo wasn’t injured.
For the team as a whole as well, something positive could yet come from this if we look at the bigger picture. Oladipo is perceived to be the guy who will one day lead this team back to the playoffs. While that’s great, there is a tendency in this league to rely heavily on your best players.
Nothing wrong with this, of course, if you happen to have LeBron James or Kevin Durant on your team than absolutely get the most out of them. But those players ever can’t suit up for any reason, the supporting cast can struggle without their star leading the way. In no way are we comparing Oladipo to these two greats, but he is this team’s best player.
So learning to play, and hopefully win, without him over the course of the first month could actually work to their benefit in the long term. If Oladipo misses some more time later in the year, a strong possibility given these freak injuries that are happening to him, then at least this team will have some idea of what playing without him is like.
They’ll know his athleticism, quite leadership and top tier defending will be absent. They’ll also know how best to still remain competitive, even without those desirable traits in the team.
Losing a talent to injury is never easy, and the reality is that losing Victor Oladipo for about a month isn’t a great way to start a season. But it’s the reality now, and while we could get lost in the negative, worrying about how far behind this team could fall without him won’t bring him back any quicker. It’s about not making excuses and hoping other players step up in his absence.
I’m willing to bet a couple of them do to soften the blow.