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SCHEDULE:
Aug 30: Russell Westbrook
Aug 31: Victor Oladipo
Sept 1: Steven Adams
Sept 2: Enes Kanter
Sept 5: Cameron Payne
Sept 6: Domantas Sabonis
Sept 7: Andre Roberson
Sept 8: Ersan Ilyasova
Sept 9: Alex Abrines
Sept 12: Ronnie Price
Sept 13: Anthony Morrow
Sept 14: Mitch McGary
Sept 15: Nick Collison
Sept 16: Josh Huestis
Sept 17: Kyle Singler
Sept 18: Training Camp Signings

Today we have the man with the silky smooth voice, VICTOR OLADIPO.



http://www.nba.com/playerfile/victor_oladipo/
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/oladivi01.html

24 years old
Drafted 2013 out of Indiana with the 2nd pick by the Orlando Magic
6'4"
210lb
1x NBA All-Rookie First Team
1x Sporting News Player of the Year
1x First-Team All American
1x Co-NABC Defensive Player of the Year
1x Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
1x First-Team All Big Ten
2x Big Ten All Defensive Team



And bonus singing! (The girl sucks, skip her part).



Questions for the upcoming season:

1: What sort of statline do you expect from him this season?
2: What sort of role will he play offensively and defensively?
3: How will Oladipo mesh on the court with Russ, given their somewhat overlapping skillsets?
4: Can he be a 20PPG scorer, as Smitty suggested the Thunder believe?
5: How much do you expect him to be staggered with the bench?
6: How effective do you expect him to be playing the SF in the 3-guard lineups Donovan has said he'll employ at times this season?

And any others you care to mention.

I think he gets staggered and can definitely be a 20 ppg guy, taking over a mix of Dion's role and some extra playmaking. I think the 3 guard lineup may be interesting depending on the 3rd guard (is Robes the 3rd? If so he's basically a forward, if not, defense may be tough). Really looking forward to having good SG play for a change.

bondom34 wrote:I think he gets staggered and can definitely be a 20 ppg guy, taking over a mix of Dion's role and some extra playmaking. I think the 3 guard lineup may be interesting depending on the 3rd guard (is Robes the 3rd? If so he's basically a forward, if not, defense may be tough). Really looking forward to having good SG play for a change.

The specific combo that I think was mentioned on the radio was Cam, Russ, Dipo.

dbrandon wrote:

bondom34 wrote:I think he gets staggered and can definitely be a 20 ppg guy, taking over a mix of Dion's role and some extra playmaking. I think the 3 guard lineup may be interesting depending on the 3rd guard (is Robes the 3rd? If so he's basically a forward, if not, defense may be tough). Really looking forward to having good SG play for a change.

The specific combo that I think was mentioned on the radio was Cam, Russ, Dipo.

Yeah, that may be trouble, unless the other team is super small.

bondom34 wrote:

dbrandon wrote:

bondom34 wrote:I think he gets staggered and can definitely be a 20 ppg guy, taking over a mix of Dion's role and some extra playmaking. I think the 3 guard lineup may be interesting depending on the 3rd guard (is Robes the 3rd? If so he's basically a forward, if not, defense may be tough). Really looking forward to having good SG play for a change.

The specific combo that I think was mentioned on the radio was Cam, Russ, Dipo.

Yeah, that may be trouble, unless the other team is super small.

Not really that bad for a small ball wing lineup. Russ and Dipo are both stronger than their size indicates, and there aren't many small forwards capable of using their height to punish guys. Durant, LeBron, kawhi, and Gallinari are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Very great player with top 10 SG potential. I'm predicting 15/5/4 stats this season as the 2nd lead guard on the team. He is a hard worker and a guy you might see around your area if you live in OKC

OrlandoTill wrote:Very great player with top 10 potential. I'm predicting 15/5/4 stats this season as the 2nd lead guard on the team. He is a hard worker and a guy you might see around your area if you live in OKC

It's pretty common to see the guys around town. OKC's small enough that there isn't necessarily a "famous people" part of town—everyone generally frequents similar areas if they want to go out.

Got high hopes for Vic. Hopefully he can become a true 3 & D wing that we've needed forever.

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The main problem in Orlando was that somehow he had unfortunate injuries and ineffective stretches which forced the team to consider him as a second option and fans started to think of him as an unreliable and expendable piece instead of the face of franchise. It seems to have hurt him in the process especially after Skiles has relegated him to backup role in the start of 2015 season.
He seems to be a bit emotional in his responses to adversity but he could overcome these as he is still young and shooting will come with age. He is a likeable person (who has won an NBA community service award in January) and I have no doubt he will have good chemisty with WB. The departure of "it" has been actually good for him as the lack of a proper SF will let SG position more chances.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-magic/os-magic-celtics-brian-schmitz-1130-20151129-column.html

But he will ask for lots of dough come the summer time, that is for sure.

1. Tough to say depends on his role but I think he averaged an efficient 20/5/4 after the new year last season so he can certainly put up all star numbers if he gets the touches, his shooting became a strength after an abysmal start last season.

2. He can defend both guard positions, defense is the biggest step he took last year, he was really overrated in his first two seasons but finally became a good defender under Skiles, he can probably switch with Westbrook against the tougher PGs so that Russ could get some rest on defense.

On offense he really has gotten better a playmaker after logging minutes at PG his first 2 seasons.

3. Thats the 130 million dollar question I suppose but Im sure he will have a bigger role when Westbrook is on the bench and I think he will surprise in his ability to create plays for others when hes handling the ball, he is also a good cutter so I expect him to play off Westbrook quite a bit.

4.Yes, he did so for 2/3 of last year and has shown an ability to score in multiple ways.

Not sure about 5 or 6

I think he is a 16-18PPG player for OKC. The thing he simply must do is knock down his 3's at a higher %. He will get open looks and will need to punish teams so they don't take spacing from Westbrook. Westbrook will see a lot less spacing without Durant and no real threat at Sf, but he is a superhuman, so it may not affect him too much. Victor is the type of shooter that will make a huge 3 pointer to tie the game and then brick the game winner.

He should benefit from not being the focus on the team. He needs to be humbled a little and Westbrook can keep him in check. He was given carte blanche in Orlando and became a "me first" type of player. Additionally, he was not happy in his role as a 6th man even though he flourished at it.

Off the bench as a combo guard he could be the next Jamal Crawford. As a starter at SG he will need to take strides to truly be that star counterpart to Westbrook. He struggles at consistently hitting 3s and also is poor at finishing at the rim. The Magic started giving him midrange J's just to get him in a rhythm, and it paid off in improving his shooting %.

Playing him as a full time PG is bad, since his court vision is mediocre at best and he can't anticipate passes well at all. He is OK at running PnR, but it's just not something he is great at.

Victor never was a volume scorer at any point in his career, but he will have huge games for OKC. The main thing you have to expect is that he will not do that on a consistent basis. He's a sparkplug player who will have insane dunks, nice fast break steals, and make some crazy shots.

I was never a fan of him on Orlando because we needed consistency and reliability at the SG spot, as we do not have a Westbrook go to guy. That's not what Victor is, but unfortunately that is what he thought he was for us anyway. I much prefer the pairing of Elfrid Payton and Fournier for us, and always assumed Oladipo would be traded this season anyway.

This should not be doom and gloom, because Victor will be an upgrade at SG for OKC. The main issue is if you want to commit to a max contract to keep him around, since that is what he wants. If you can keep him on a reasonable contract that lets you retain Adams and add a quality SF who can shoot at a high %, I think Oladipo will be a nice fit long term in OKC.

PennytoShaq wrote:I think he is a 16-18PPG player for OKC. The thing he simply must do is knock down his 3's at a higher %. He will get open looks and will need to punish teams so they don't take spacing from Westbrook. Westbrook will see a lot less spacing without Durant and no real threat at Sf, but he is a superhuman, so it may not affect him too much. Victor is the type of shooter that will make a huge 3 pointer to tie the game and then brick the game winner.

He should benefit from not being the focus on the team. He needs to be humbled a little and Westbrook can keep him in check. He was given carte blanche in Orlando and became a "me first" type of player. Additionally, he was not happy in his role as a 6th man even though he flourished at it.

Off the bench as a combo guard he could be the next Jamal Crawford. As a starter at SG he will need to take strides to truly be that star counterpart to Westbrook. He struggles at consistently hitting 3s and also is poor at finishing at the rim. The Magic started giving him midrange J's just to get him in a rhythm, and it paid off in improving his shooting %.

Playing him as a full time PG is bad, since his court vision is mediocre at best and he can't anticipate passes well at all. He is OK at running PnR, but it's just not something he is great at.

Victor never was a volume scorer at any point in his career, but he will have huge games for OKC. The main thing you have to expect is that he will not do that on a consistent basis. He's a sparkplug player who will have insane dunks, nice fast break steals, and make some crazy shots.

I was never a fan of him on Orlando because we needed consistency and reliability at the SG spot, as we do not have a Westbrook go to guy. That's not what Victor is, but unfortunately that is what he thought he was for us anyway. I much prefer the pairing of Elfrid Payton and Fournier for us, and always assumed Oladipo would be traded this season anyway.

This should not be doom and gloom, because Victor will be an upgrade at SG for OKC. The main issue is if you want to commit to a max contract to keep him around, since that is what he wants. If you can keep him on a reasonable contract that lets you retain Adams and add a quality SF who can shoot at a high %, I think Oladipo will be a nice fit long term in OKC.

So basically "what Dion Waiters thinks he is".

I'm OK with this.

I.U. fan and a Magic fan because I live near by. Was so thrilled when he was drafted by the Magic and we had season tickets for the 3 years he was here. He gave it his all everyday and you guys are going to love having him on the Thunder. We still have season tickets to the Magic because they were already partially paid when the trade was made, but husband bought me League Pass so I can still watch all of Victor's games. Watching the game in Spain now and it looks like he is fitting in nicely with y'all.

Man, Dipo killed it. I know it was against a Euro team, but this team is going to be a lot of fun if they can sort out SF. Sabonis fit in well too.