It felt like the Pacers did about as well as they possibly could have when they traded Paul George. Both Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo have panned out in Indiana. The problem is they now find themselves in the exact same spot. Another star that will likely leave in free agency.
Reports have started to come out that Victor Oladipo is leaning towards leaving Indiana when his free agency year comes up in 2021.
VIA Sam Amick of The Athletic:
“Rumblings had persisted that he didn’t plan on re-signing with the Pacers.”
For Indiana, this is crushing. Oladipo is a player that played his college ball at the University of Indiana. If anybody was going to stick around long term, wasn’t Oladipo going to be that guy? Where does Indiana go from here?
This is a team that wrongfully fired Nate McMillan after he led the team to a 5 seed in the East. The same team that didn’t have Oladipo all year and missed Damantas Sabonis when it counted. Maybe Oladipo didn’t like McMillan but that feels like a stretch.
Indiana has no choice but to trade Victor Oladipo. They find themselves right back in the Paul George situation again. Now that Indiana has an indication that Dipo wants out, they need to start exploring trade scenarios now.
The 2021 free agent class is going to be packed. To me, Brooklyn and Miami feel like the biggest contenders to make a splashy trade. Caris LeVert wouldn’t be a bad target. Miami has a bunch of depth pieces like Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro I would want as part of a trade. A trade seems like a matter of when not if.
