Victor Oladipo, Point Guard?
By Brad Rowland
On Monday afternoon, Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a now-patented “Woj Bomb”, and it involved Orlando Magic lottery pick and former Indiana stand-out, Victor Oladipo.
Something interesting to watch in summer league: Orlando's Victor Oladipo getting major run at PG - in mold of young Russell Westbrook.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2013
Frankly, this bit of a news came out of nowhere, as there was significantly more buzz about Oladipo trying to play the small forward position than there was about his point guard usage, and it’s pretty jarring. First, Oladipo averaged more turnovers (2.3 per game) than assists (2.1 per game) as a junior at Indiana, and there is also significant question marks about his ball-handling. At 6’4 (in shoes), Oladipo does lack the size to be a prototypical swingman, but most feel as though his length (6-foot-9 wingspan) and athleticism would cover that size issue.
The Westbrook comparison is also interesting, as Russ has similar size and athleticism. However, he is significantly better with the ball than Oladipo is, and had played the position previously before being converted to shooting guard for one season at UCLA.
It is certainly possible that Oladipo playing point guard could be a short-lived experiment, but if anyone has insider information, it would be Wojnarowski. With the unsettled nature of the Magic backcourt situation (and really, the entire roster), they will be looking for a lot of different things from Oladipo, and it appears that point guard play could be one of them.
On the bright side, we know that Oladipo will defend like crazy, and he has a near-legendary work ethic as a youngster entering the league. Summer league is just around the corner, and this could be fun.