In the offseason improvement series, we’ll take a look at each player on the OKC Thunder roster and determine what they need to improve on. Victor Oladipo is up second.
The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Victor Oladipo last offseason in a trade that sent Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and the rights to Domantas Sabonis. This means the 2016-2017 NBA season was Oladipo’s first in Oklahoma City. It’s safe to say he was a bit of a disappointment.
Victor Oladipo’s regression
During Oladipo’s first three years in Orlando, he saw increases in rebounds-per-game (RPG), field goal percentage (FG%), three-point percentage (3P%), free throw percentage (FT%), player efficiency rating (PER), true shooting percentage (TS%), win shares per 48 (WS/48), box plus/minus (BPM), and value over replacement player (VORP) each season. That’s a lot of improvement.
During Oladipo’s first year Oklahoma City, he basically regressed in every one of those same categories. Oladipo was far worse this season than he was his last season in Orlando — all the way up until the playoffs when he was an absolute catastrophe in the Thunder’s series with the Rockets.
Who’s to blame for Oladipo’s lack of production?
Moving from franchise to franchise can be difficult. You can partially chalk Oladipo’s regression up to his lack of familiarity with his teammates. As for the other portion of the blame, that’ll be dispersed to Kevin Durant.
Last offseason the Thunder brought Oladipo on with the thinking that Durant would stay put despite his impending free agency. We all know how that one went. Durant is in the Bay and Oladipo is being asked to do a job he isn’t built to do — be the second best player on a contending team.
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In actuality, the Thunder had a nice plan in place. Durant, Oladipo, and Russell Westbrook would’ve formed the best perimeter trio in the league in an era where perimeter play is of the essence. It’s a shame that plan never came to fruition.
Improvements needed
Oladipo’s biggest improvement needed this postseason? Shooting.
While Oladipo did shoot a career high in 3P% this past season at 36 percent, he could stand to improve that percentage even more. Oladipo coming into next season with a reliable three-point shot that actually translates to postseason play could be vital to the Thunder’s success.
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In addition to improving his shooting, Oladipo could also stand to improve his passing ability. His 3.7 assists-per-game (APG) average for his career isn’t terrible, but it’s also nothing to write home about.
As of right now, the Thunder only have one playmaker in Westbrook. For this reason, Oladipo will need to improve as a distributor. If Oladipo can improve his playmaking ability this offseason, the Thunder could find themselves besting their 2016-2017 record.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Victor Oladipo is a solid player. With a few improvements, he could become one of the better two-way players in the league. For the Thunder’s sake, hopefully he can make those improvements this offseason.