NBA: Pacers Offered Hope Over Guard's Return

The Indiana Pacers are being touted as the dark horses in the Eastern Conference after an impressive show last season and a good offseason. The Pacers were expected to make a deep run in the playoffs last season but an injury to star man Victor Oladipo derailed their campaign.

The 27-year-old shooting guard/point guard suffered a severe ruptured quad tendon in his knee in January after which the Pacers were not at their best. They finished fifth in the Eastern Conference and were easily overcome in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

Oladipo is continuing his rehabilitation but there is no clear timeline with regards to his return. It was a severe injury and he is expected to miss the start of the new season but Pacers teammate Miles Turner recently revealed that his progress is more than expected and the shooting guard could return earlier than many expect.

“I know Vic [Victor Oladipo] is looking to get back on the floor man, he keeps taking it one step at a time. I think he will be back a lot sooner than people think,” Turner told Frank Isola on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “We definitely don’t want him to rush but we need him out there to be the team that we can be and the team we wanna be.”

The All-Star guard averaged 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists for the Pacers before his injury last season while shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc. Oladipo’s ability to score and finish games in the fourth quarter was missed during the playoffs.

The Pacers were aware that they will be without him for the start of the 2019-20 campaign and have brought in Malcolm Brogdon, T.J. Warren and Jeremy Lamb to cover for the Maryland-born guard. The former averaged 15.6 points for the Eastern Conference’s top team Milwaukee Bucks last season while Warren averaged 18.0 points and Lamb averaged 15.3 points.

Turner will also have to step up his game alongside the new recruits if they are to keep the Pacers among the top places in the East before Oladipo returns. The big center who was the 11^th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft averaged 13.3 points and 7.6 rebounds last season.