- League sources don’t expect any major deals from the Pacers at this year’s deadline, according to O’Connor. However, the club could consider a significant move in the offseason if it’s eliminated in the first round this spring. O’Connor points to Myles Turner as a potential trade candidate down the road, though he acknowledges that Indiana would likely be more inclined to consider moving Turner if rookie Goga Bitadze was closer to being a reliable contributor.
[SOURCE LINK]
Oladipo was sidelined for 375 days after suffering a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee last January. He practiced extensively with the Pacers’ G League affiliate over the past few weeks to help get him ready to return to action.
Three weeks ago, Oladipo announced that January 29 was his target date, raising the hopes of Pacers fans, who have watched their team remain competitive without their All-Star guard. With tonight’s win, Indiana is 31-17, tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Oladipo arrived at the game wearing a Kobe Bryant All-Star jersey. Afterward, he credited Bryant for providing inspiration.
“Mamba mentality, Mamba mentality, Mamba mentality,” he said. “That was for Kobe, Gigi, all those people on the helicopter, that was for them.”
The Pacers plan to have Oladipo play in seven of their remaining eight games before the All-Star break, but he won’t be used in back-to-backs. Coach Nate McMillan said his condition will be examined during the break to determine his role for the rest of the season.
“We’re not putting pressure on him to go out there and do anything but get a feel, start to trust your body,” McMillan said. “Work on things. Catch up to what we’re doing out on the floor. There are no real expectations.”
- Scott Agness of The Athletic takes a look at what to expect from Victor Oladipo when he returns to the court for the Pacers on Wednesday. “We’re going to be slow with him, be patient with him,” head coach Nate McMillan said on Tuesday. “Is he close to the old Vic? There’s no way he could be there after being off for a season, so you have to be patient. We’ll give him some minutes (Wednesday), allow him to get out there and get his feet wet and get out on the floor in a competitive game.”
Pacers guard Victor Oladipo remains on track to make his return to the NBA on Wednesday night vs. Chicago after missing the last year with a torn quad tendon. However, the team will be cautious with the 27-year-old upon his return.
According to Nat Newell and J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star, Oladipo will face a minutes restriction in his season debut and for at least the first few weeks after that. The team intends to re-evaluate that restriction at the All-Star break, at which time it could be adjusted or lifted entirely.
The Pacers haven’t indicated exactly how many minutes Oladipo will receive per game. The team was also noncommittal about his potential role, though Scott Agness of The Athletic suggests (via Twitter) there’s a good chance he’ll come off the bench for now. As Agness points out (via Twitter), Oladipo still hasn’t practiced with the starters and head coach Nate McMillan is aware that an adjustment period will be necessary.
Before going down with his quad injury last January, the veteran guard had been named an All-Star in each of his first two seasons in Indiana. He has averaged 21.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.6 APG, and 2.1 SPG on .461/.362/.780 shooting in 111 games since joining the Pacers in a blockbuster 2017 trade.
The Pacers have played very well in Oladipo’s absence, with Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis stepping up as the team’s leaders and making strong cases for All-Star consideration. At 30-17, Indiana currently ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference. With Oladipo back, the club will be pushing in the second half to secure a top-four seed and first-round home court advantage.
- Nathan Brown of The Indianapolis Star spoke to knee specialist Dr. Rodney Benner to get a sense of what Pacers star Victor Oladipo might look like upon returning from his year-long injury. “It’s going to be a little bit, trial-and-error isn’t the right word for it, but there’s going to be some adjusting of activity up and down to see what he can handle, just because it’s such an uncommon injury that it’s hard to predict,” Benner said of Oladipo, who remains on track to make his season debut on Wednesday.
- In case you missed it, we passed along a handful of Bulls notes and Pacers items over the weekend.
The Pacers‘ G League affiliate played an important role in preparing Victor Oladipo for his expected season debut, writes Scott Agness of The Athletic. Oladipo has made eight trips to Fort Wayne over the past two months to practice with the Mad Ants as he comes back from a ruptured right quad tendon. With the Pacers on a road trip, the G League team visited their practice facility this week to work with Oladipo.
“Anytime that an All-Star like Vic wants to play and practice with your guys, you’re going to let him,” Mad Ants coach Steve Gansey said. “Our Mad Ant guys are going to be watching him, and they’re going to look at every move that he does. Vic has been talking to a lot of our guys and trying to help them and give them pointers, both offensively and defensively and off the court. It’s been great for our guys just as much as Vic needs it.”
Gansey has been in frequent contact with Pacers coach Nate McMillan, providing updates on Oladipo’s progress. The latest step has been getting him used to traps as he brings the ball up court.
“This was the best I’ve seen Vic since we’ve had him in practice,” Gansey said of the time in Indianapolis. “We had three straight days where you just saw a different athleticism out there that you can really tell that he’s coming back here pretty soon and really pushing himself.”
There’s more Pacers news to pass along:
- Jeremy Lamb has been starting in Oladipo’s place, but McMillan won’t hesitate to pull him on a bad shooting night, observers J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star. Lamb, who has been mired in a shooting slump, sat out the entire fourth quarter of a comeback win in Denver this week. “I went scoreless. That hasn’t happened in a while,” Lamb said. “It still feels the same, score or not score. When you lose, you got to figure out how to just find ways to get better. Last game I had zero points but we won. It’s a lot easier to deal with that.”
- T.J. McConnell has taken over the starting point guard duties while Malcolm Brogdon is sidelined with a concussion, Michael notes in a separate story. The former Sixer has been a valuable addition for Indiana after signing a two-year deal over the summer. Only the first season is guaranteed, but Michael states that the second one is considered a lock to be picked up.
- In an interview with Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard and general manager Chad Buchanan talk about what they look for in a player, the challenges that face a small-market team and the difficulty of trading Paul George in 2017. “We really thought that there was going to be 29 teams throwing the kitchen sink at us,” Pritchard said. “But at the end of the day, the number of teams that were after Paul was very small. I think there were just two offers that were real offers.”
Victor Oladipo remains on track to return to the court next Wednesday when the Pacers take on the Bulls, a source tells Hoops Rumors. Oladipo, who has spent time this month in the G League rehabbing, hasn’t played since January of last year after he ruptured his quad tendon in his right knee, but has had January 29 circled on his calendar for the last few weeks.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Knicks guard Dennis Smith Jr. could get moved prior to the trade deadline for the second straight season but he’s not focused on the rumors, as Peter Botte of the New York Post writes. “Everything happens for a reason, you know what I’m saying?” Smith said. “It was already written, God’s plan, I just gotta execute my part, put my work in and everything will work out…It’s a business. I’m here, playing for the New York Knicks, that’s my job right now, so that’s what I’m focused on. You realized [last year] anything can happen, so you just gotta be the best version of yourself.”
- Reggie Jackson recently returned to the court and Pistons coach Dwane Casey is looking for ways to incorporate him with Derrick Rose, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Both point guards could get serious run on the court together. “That’s what today’s NBA is about and that’s what a lot of my offense is about: multiple ballhandlers — and sometimes we get stuck. We have some options in case we do have a non-ballhandler involved in a situation, but it works a lot more fluid,” Casey said.
- Theo Pinson, who has struggled with his shot this season, spoke about his up-and-down sophomore campaign with the Nets, as Chris Milholen of NetsDaily relays. “Just listening to the vets. It is not going to be highs the whole season. It’s a long season. Just take everything and embrace it and I’m always telling myself that the Lord won’t put me in situations I couldn’t handle. I just try to remember that,” Pinson said.
Here are Wednesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the league:
- The Pacers recalled guard Victor Oladipo from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team’s PR department tweets. Oladipo practiced with the Mad Ants as part of his rehab. He’s expected to make his season debut with Indiana next week.
- The Spurs recalled rookie swingman Keldon Johnson and forward Chimezie Metu from their Austin affiliate, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. Johnson has made two cameos with the NBA club this season while Metu, a 2018 second-round pick, has played in 11 games.
- The Jazz assigned rookie guard Miye Oni to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the G League transactions log. Oni has appeared in three games with Utah.
Here are Monday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the league:
- The Celtics recalled rookie guard Carsen Edwards prior to their game against the Lakers, the team’s PR department tweets. Edwards has come off the bench in 27 games with Boston this season, averaging 3.2 PPG in 9.9 MPG.
- The Knicks recalled rookie forward Ignas Brazdeikis from their Westchester affiliate, the team’s PR department tweets. Brazdeikis has appeared in nine games with the NBA club, averaging 1.9 PPG in 5.9 MPG.
- The Pacers assigned guard Victor Oladipo to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for a practice, the team tweets. Oladipo is expected to make his long-awaited season debut next week.
- The Wizards recalled rookie guard Admiral Schofield, the team tweets. Schofield has appeared in 24 games with the Wizards this season but did not play in the team’s win over Detroit on Monday.
- The Clippers recalled guard Terance Mann from their Agua Caliente affiliate, the team announced today. Mann has played 27 games for the Clippers this season, averaging 1.9 PPG in 8.1 MPG.
- The Thunder assigned center Justin Patton to the Oklahoma City Blue, according to a team press release. Patton is averaging 12.1 PPG and 8.2 RPG in 23 games with the Blue. He has appeared in five games for the Thunder this season, averaging 1.8 PPG in 4.8 MPG.
Barring a major second-half swoon, the Bucks won’t give up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this season. At 38-6, Milwaukee is on pace to win over 70 games and currently has an eight-game cushion over the next-best team in the conference.
While the race for the top seed in the East may already be over, a fascinating race is developing for the No. 2 spot. With six potential contenders in the conference, the importance of nabbing that second seed shouldn’t be understated. Not only would it set up a first-round matchup against a less dangerous opponents like the Magic or Nets, it would also mean avoiding the Bucks until the Eastern Conference Finals and holding home court advantage for two rounds.
As we enter the second half of the season, the Heat currently hold the second seed, but the margin is extremely tight. Here’s what the standings look like for the five teams vying for the No. 2 seed, entering today’s action:
- Miami Heat (29-13)
- Toronto Raptors (28-14)
- Boston Celtics (27-14)
- Indiana Pacers (28-15)
- Philadelphia 76ers (28-16)
All five teams are separated by just two games, so one hot or cold streak could have a significant impact on seeding. Just ask the Celtics, who could fall out of the top four tonight for the first time since October if their current losing streak extends to four games.
With a real incentive tied to claiming the No. 2 seed, the second-half race among these five teams should be fascinating. The Raptors finally have a healthy roster, and the Pacers will be getting star guard Victor Oladipo back next week. The Sixers have been shakier than expected all year long, but showed their upside on Christmas Day when they dismantled the Bucks. The Celtics and the Heat are in position to potentially upgrade their rosters at the trade deadline if they so choose.
Of course, we should also consider each team’s second-half schedule. According to Tankathon.com, the Heat, Sixers, and Raptors have three of the NBA’s easiest remaining slates, while the Pacers’ schedule ranks in the middle of the pack and the Celtics’ is the eighth-hardest.
What do you think? Which of these five teams do you like best to finish the season strong and claim the No. 2 seed in the East?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.