Five takeaways from the Thunder’s loss in Milwaukee

2. Victor Oladipo needs to change his offensive focus

Look, I love Oladipo. He’s my favorite player on this team. I love that he’s shooting over 38% from three this year. I also love his athleticism, vision with the ball and ability to attack the rim. We just don’t see those last three facets of his game enough.

In his first two games back, Oladipo has taken more attempts from three than inside the arc. He’s converting at an impressive rate (6-12) but staying outside the arc takes away the paint penetration that makes the Thunder offense go.

For his career Dipo averages a little under four assists a game, but that number is below three this season. With more offensive weapons around him than in Orlando, that number should be around five per game.

The problem is he’s become more infatuated with being a spot-up shooter than an extra playmaker when he’s on the court with Westbrook. Tonight he finished with four assists, which only makes this point more important.

The potential is there for Oladipo to become more of a creator in this offense. Just look at this play:

https://twitter.com/okcthunder/status/816105186850652160

It’s going to take both Russ giving up the ball more and Oladipo taking a bigger role as a leader for this to happen. It’s too easy to stop OKC because everyone knows Russ is essentially the only true shot-creator. Oladipo has the same talent, he just needs to put his skills into action.