Pacers head coach Nate McMillan states that star shooting guard Victor Oladipo, whose status for the NBA’s season restart has remained uncertain, will be a game-day decision for Indiana’s first seeding game in Orlando on Saturday, according to Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
“He went through practice today, he’ll go through practice tomorrow and like any other one of our players, we’ll see who’s available for Saturday,” McMillan said. Oladipo did play in all three of the Pacers’ scrimmages in Orlando.
Here are more notes from around the Central Division:
- McMillan also said this week that Pacers rookie center Goga Bitadze, the No. 18 pick in the 2019 draft, remains “a couple of weeks away” from being able to suit up for Indiana, according to J. Michael of the Indy Star (Twitter link). McMillan indicated last week that Bitadze is struggling with a soft-tissue injury.
- Bulls bench center Luke Kornet had a disappointing first season in Chicago, as Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago details. Kornet, who inked a two-year, $4.5 MM contract with the club last summer, was roundly outplayed by second-round rookie Daniel Gafford, and averaged just 6.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 0.7 BPG.
- With the team’s lone 2019/20 All-Star Domantas Sabonis away from the NBA’s restart campus dealing with plantar fasciitis, the Pacers are now looking to take a small-ball approach to their seeding games and subsequent playoff run, according to Mark Montieth of Pacers.com.