Who can carry Pacers’ offense in Victor Oladipo’s absence?
By Bryce Fields
Option No. 2 without Oladipo: Malcolm Brogdon
The Indiana Pacers’ biggest addition this off-season may also be their answer to a Victor Oladipo-less offense: Malcolm Brogdon. A member of the coveted 50/40/90 club, Brogdon proved to be an elite shooter last year with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Brogdon was very impressive last season, but there is reason to doubt he can carry an offense despite shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from 3. That is because Brogdon benefited heavily from being on a superb Bucks team that not only boasted MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, but another All-Star scorer in Khris Middleton.
Playing alongside these two allowed Brogdon to benefit from great spacing and never having an opponent’s best defender on him.
The good news is that the sky is the ceiling for Brogdon. He is obviously a great shooter, but he hasn’t been given much more opportunity than to do just that. With Giannis taking most of the offensive burden and Middleton being his sidekick, Brogdon fell pretty far down the totem pole in Milwaukee.
He even had to compete with Eric Bledsoe in the backcourt and share shots with Brook Lopez, who became a more than adequate shooter this year from deep. Now, Brogdon will be called upon to be a primary creator in Indiana, giving him a great opportunity to expand his game.
Regardless, Brogdon’s shooting numbers speak for themselves. If he can replicate that in Indiana, he might be the Pacers best scoring option without Oladipo.