10. Victor Oladipo, guard
The 10th best player for the Indiana Pacers in 2019-20 was Victor Oladipo. It feels very weird to have Vic down this low on any Pacers-based list. But the fact is he only played 13 games for the Pacers this season. And for the first 6 of those games, he did struggle mightily as the Pacers as a whole went on a six-game skid. But that is to be expected of a guy who missed an entire calendar year due to a horrendous injury when he ruptured his quadriceps tendon.
In the 13 games Oladipo appeared in this season, he played 25.9 minutes a game. Upon his return, he was on a minutes restriction of 24 minutes a game until the All-Star break. For the season, he averaged 13.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, on 39-30-78 shooting splits and a PER of 12.
Just looking at the numbers alone, you might not like what you see. But again, we have to remember the obstacles this man had to overcome just to get back on the court. Anything after that was a bonus.
In his first game back though, Victor did remind all of us just how much of an impact he can have on a game, no matter how long he has been away. In his return to action on January 29th against the Bulls, he struggled to score from all areas on the court. He was having trouble finishing at the rim, and his threes just would not seem to fall.
The Pacers found themselves trailing by 3 late in the fourth. Victor was 0 for 6 from three up to that point. It didn’t matter. The Pacers in-bounded the ball to Vic and he just let it fly from well beyond the line. Nothing but net. I still get chills thinking about it. In his return from injury after a year removed he forced overtime and the Pacers would go on to win the game. This is why we love sports.
With each game, Victor appeared to return to form little by little. In his last six games of the season, he averaged 16.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on 46-39-77 splits and a positive net rating of +6.8. These are the kind of numbers Pacers fans are used to seeing from Oladipo. And he will continue to get back to form, all this time off is just only going to give him more time to improve. Oladipo is one of the hardest-working players in the league and when the NBA finally resumes play, nobody will be more ready than Victor Oladipo.