Step 1: Victor Oladipo
Step one would be getting Victor Oladipo back to his All-Star level full strength after his devasting quad injury. That will help the team’s offense a lot.
Oladipo at full strength is an amazing athletic guard that can bust open defenses, and be a central part of an offense. As a primary scorer, and a secondary ball-handler he is just what the Pacers were really missing.
As a shooter in his last two healthy seasons, he was attempting six 3’s a game and shooting a solid 36 percent. On top of the shooting, Oladipo averaged 21.7 points per contest over the past two seasons.
In contrast, this year’s Pacers while having a healthy scoring balance does not have a 20-plus point scorer.
Beyond even the scoring having that central perimeter threat of Oladipo will open up the Pacers’ offense much more because the attention he can draw from a defense will surely give other Pacers players more open looks.
Oladipo back in the fold already brings the offense up a notch, but there’s still more the team can do.