If folks wanna recognize The Covid Cup as a legitimate title then they can’t turn around and call for Vogel’s head after an injury-plagued season. I feel like the bubble situation served us well but the quick turnaround, condensed follow-up season wasn’t good for us. Stuff always seems to balance out. I think we definitely need to make adjustments but I don’t see us blowing everything up in what could be Lebron’s final season here. It’s just not what the organization has done in the past.
Lakers Gamble on Victor Oladipo To Create Their Own Superstar Big Three
By 
March 8, 2021 11 Comments
There’s no question in my mind that the Lakers need to find a third superstar if they want to beat the Nets in the NBA Finals. The problem the Lakers face is a math problem: 3 > 2 and 2 > 1. With just LeBron and AD, the Lakers are going to always have one less superstar on the court all 48 minutes of each game.
That means either Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, or James Harden is going to be defended by someone other than LeBron James or Anthony Davis. How comfortable do you feel about that? Do you think Caruso can stop Harden 1-on-1 or Schroder can stop Kyrie 1-0n-1? How do you think our trapping and rotating defense is going to do when 3 of the 5 players the Nets have on the court are superstars? That’s going to make trapping and doubling hard.
What we need is a third superstar to level the playing field. We also need that third superstar to be a guard because two of the Nets’ three superstars are guards and neither of the two superstars we have now are guards. Yes, LeBron and AD can defend guards like Kyrie and Harden but then who defends Durant? Gasol? Trezz? Kuzma? We need a former All-Defensive player like Victor Oladipo.
Finally, the reason Oladipo is the right move is he can deliver 20+ points per game and take 7 to 8 threes per game. Right now, Kyrie and James average 29 points more than KCP and Dennis average. That’s a point differential that will kill the Lakers unless they make moves to replace KCP and Victor is the best and most affordable two-way option out there.
Put him on the court with LeBron and AD and he will become the player he was when he won MIP, All- NBA, and All-Defensive two years ago. He will thrive as a third option and be the perfect backcourt mate to play with Schroder. It’s a move the Lakers can make. It will cost KCP, Kuzma, and THT but give the Lakers the edge in wininng #18.
Aloha Tom, I don’t consider Oladipo a superstar. He is a one time all star that hasn’t been that good since 2017-18 season. He isn’t a great 3 point shooter. He had one good year at .371. He is like I believe .346 for his career. KCP’s career average is better then Victors best year. He’s been dismal shooting across the board since going to the Rockets. Instead of giving up 3 rotation players for him, why don’t we try getting Kuz more looks. He has been shooting the ball soooo much better than Victor, he is becoming our best rebounder and is becoming a very good defender that can guard 2 through 4. I also don’t believe as the 3rd option on this team, that he will bring more than the 3 guys we are giving up for him. I actually believe it would weaken us. And we would be rail thin at the forward spots.
We’ll have to agree to disagree, Michael. Oladipo’s was MIP, 3rd team All-NBA, and 3rd team All-Defensive in 2018, He’s a career 17.5 ppg scorer, 4.6 rpg rebounder, 3.9 apg playmaker, 0.5 bpg shot blocker, and 1.5 spg defender.
All of those awards and stats say he is capable of being the closest thing to a superstar the Lakers are going to be able to acquire. KCP, Kuzma, and THT at this point have never sniffed those kind of stats.
And Victor’s averaging 20.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.2 apg, 0.5 bpg, and 1.5 spg in 32.7 minutes. He also shoots 7.8 threes per game, more than anybody on the Lakers at a career 34,8%. All while being the primary scorer on his team. Put him as third option on the Lakers and he should improve his shooting percentages.
What frustrates me is everybody responds to articles I write with their preordained opinioins without reading the article, considering the stats and arguments, and responding to the logic and conclusions of the article.
For example, sticking with KCP means the Lakers will face a negative 30 ppg differential when going up against Irving and Harden. Replace KCP with Oladipo and that is cut in half. The Lakers are not going to be able to beat a team wiht 3 superstars with just LeBron, AD, and a handful of limited role players.
It’s frustrating that everybody has such blind faith in the Lakers that they aren’t even willing to open their minds or actually read an article, or argue logic and reason. There’s a great argument for the Lakers to pursue Oladipo and that adding an elite guard like him could be the key to repeating. But hey, we’re in the Twitter age where anything more than 140 characters is a waste of time.
If we could do this without giving up THT, then maybe. Otherwise, no.
Hey, Bob, hope all is well with you and yours. Thanks for reading and responding.
While I love THT and still believe he’s going to be a star, I can’t see us going into the Finals with a Schroder and KCP starting backcourt which averaged 29 fewer points per game than Irving and Harden. That’s just too much for LeBron and AD to make up against KD.
The only first round pick we can trade is 2027 and nobody is going to want one that far out so THT is essentially our lottery pick to offer in a trade. His 3-point shooting is still shaky at best and he now gives teams another reason to pack the paint against us. That’s why I’m willing to trade him. Can’t waste this chance to win #18 with LeBron. We need to go all-in now.
We need a third star and he has to be a guard. A backcourt of Schroder and Oladipo could be the answer if Victor is healthy and can return to his 2018 level. I would need the docs and our scouts to confirm that for the deal to be made.
I’ve been watching him Victor and looking at a lot of video and he’s still fast and quick and a bird dog on defense, much like Dennis, but also shoots 7 to 8 threes per game, which is something we desperately need. We’d still lose the backcourt points differential but only by 17 points.
VICTOR OLADIPO COMEBACK?
These videos show Oladipo’s almost back from the injury that limited him to 45 games in 2019 and 2020.
Except for some rust on his shooting percentages, he is producing same as his peak in 2018 and has the same speed, quickness, and smooth stroke.
…
VICTOR OLADIPO AT PEAK IN 2018!
SEASON: 23.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.3 APG, 0.8 BPG, 2.1 SPG
MIP, 3RD TEAM ALL-NBA, 3RD TEAM ALL-DEF
https://youtu.be/a_UoXTHXgbo
…
VICTOR OLADIPO THIS SEASON VS. NETS!
GAME: 33 PTS, 7 REBS, 5 ASTS, 2 BLKS, 2 STLS
SEASON: 20.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.5 APG, 0.5 BPG, 1.5 SPG
https://youtu.be/Mqjb3z31XuU
If you watch these two videos, it seems pretty obvious that Victor Oladipo is almost all the way back from the quad injury he suffered in 2019 that limited him to just 45 games in 2019 and 2020.
Watch the two videos yourself if you don’t believe me. Victor is just as quick and fast and his shot has the same smooth release as when he was at his prime. The big difference is he was in a happy competitive situation in 2018 whereas the situation with the Pacers cratered with him being in trade talks after the injury and then going to a stripped down Rockets team in the trade.
Put him on the Lakers as the third option and he will still get you 20 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals per game and so many wide open shots that his shooting percentages will be career best. That’s also not counting all of the blocks and steals he will get.
What jumped out most watching Victor is how he and Dennis could be the fastest and quickest two-way backcourt in the league. Victor is like a taller, bigger, better outside shooting version of Dennis. They would be a great backcourt to play against Irving and Harden. They could defend Kyrie and James better than Kyrie and James could defend them. That’s what the Lakers need to take down the Nets.
Been mulling this one over a bunch. I can see you’re running hot on this topic because you will post the same info multiple times in the same sentence. The fit is undeniable: Victor Oladipo, when healthy and playing at a high level is an All-NBA caliber guard on both ends of the court. The question marks I see are usgae and health. Is he healthy enough to contribute to the same level as Kuz, KCP and THT? That’s a viable question and one that ought not to be dismissed out of hand. Third option is essentially the same as the open guy on this team, in reality, when he shares the floor with James, AD and Schroeder, he’ll be the 4th option as Dennis or James will have the ball. So we’re giving up a lot for a 3rd or 4th option.
The defensive end is where I would normally make this trade without too much quibbling. But the numbers reveal that Victor is currently enjoying one of his worst defensive seasons to date:
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/victor-oladipo-defensive-rating-by-season
https://www.nba.com/stats/player/203506/
Depending on the specific metrics used it looks like it’s closer to 106+, about the same as KCP and THT. Kuzma is at 103.
Here are my issues with making this trade:
-Losing Kyle Kuzma who does a lot of everything every game and does it consistently. Kyle is looking better and better every season he plays alongside professionals. He has range, defends well, and is rebounding better than ever as a team rebounder.
-1 guy playing for 3. All three of the Lakers going out are major and fairly integral parts of the rotation. While I understand that we need to ship out that many players for the salaries to match you’re betting a lot on both AD’s health, LeBron’s continued dominance and that Oladipo has some room to improve. Both Kuzma and THT have the higher ceiling, at this point. KCP is a no-brainer to include in any trade, in my opinion.
-Victor’s health. I can see he’s putting up numbers on a garbage team. We’ve had that scenario unfold before us with guys still on the team (Kyle Kuzma, Julius Randle, even BI up until his final season where he looked like he had discovered how to do this at the pro level). Wes Matthews doesn’t show obvious signs of his Achilles injury, at this point, and still can’t get his jumper right. While Victor is suffering from the quad, the same could be said for Kawhi Leonard: looks fine, misses many games and often looks earthbound on the court.
The real obstacle I see though is that we lack what other teams can include (picks). Another would be if Vic is bound and determined to test free agency in the offseason. We’d be giving up all but one cost-controlled player (whom we have Bird rights to) for what could amount to a half season rental. All just because of, what I consider to be, an overly certain outlook that the Nets are the de facto eastern conference champs. I think Philly is a far more dangerous team, especially in the playoffs. If Embiid and Simmons are healthy they have the defense and the offense to stymie the Nets and, for all his warts, Doc RIvers has a lot more tools in the box as a coach than lil Stevie Nash.
I will say there are far worse trades out there that I’ve seen. While there are certainly hurdles to retaining his services in the offseason they are not insurmountable. He could help in several areas of deficiency. The big question I have is this: can KCP regain his playoff form and mojo? If so this trade kind of becomes unnecessary, that’s what a healthy KCP brings at a fraction of the cost. If we can get Caldwell-Pope back on the right side of his mind we get the player we’ve been scouring the NBA rumor mills for, in-house and under contract. Gravy is keeping Kyle and Talen.
Thanks for reading, analyzing, and responding, Jamie. While we don’t agree, I appreciate the thinking, respect, and intelligence in your reply. It’s the kind of responses that makes the effort to write something worthwhile and show why Lakerholics is such a great place to have a conversation about the Lakers.
In the end, this trade does come down to whether Victor can once again be the player he was back before the injury. Victor was the MIP, 3rd team All-NBA and All-Defensive in 2018. The next season, after struggling with knee issues, he tore a quad in January 2019 and was out the rest of that season after only 36 games.
Then a year later in late January 2020, Victor finally returns and plays his first game back, playing restricted minutes at first and slowly improving but only playing in 19 games. Add 24 more games in 2021 and Victor has now played in just 43 games since returning, hardly enough to work out the rust, especially considering the pandemic and situations he was in in Indiana and Houston.
You made some excellent points. Here are my comments regarding those.
1. Defense. Yes, Victor’s 106.6 DEFRTG for this season had not been great. It was just 111.2 for 9 games with Pacers but improved to 103.8 for 15 games with Rockets. You know player DEFRTG are heavily influenced by team DEFRTG. Lakers’ 106.1 team DEFRTG is #1 while the Pacers’ 110.9 is #13 and the Rockets’ 110.4 is #11. Victor’s 103.8 on the Rockets is very impressive and even better than his 104.0 in 2018 when he was 3rd team All-Defensive and better than Kuzma’s 103.5, KCP’s 106.7, or THT’s 106.8 on the #1 ranked Lakers. Defense is a big part of why the Lakers should make this trade if available.
2. As to the future value of Kuzma and THT or KCP should he return to playoff form, I don’t really disagree. All three are key starter/rotation players on a championship team. IF, and YES, it’s a big IF, the 28-year-old Victor can be the player he was before the injury, then he is worth more than those three players. It’s hard to trade three key players for one player. But the winner of most trades is the team that got the best player. In this trade, Oladipo is that player.
3. The garbage team argument is a valid argument in some situations but not when we’re talking about a player who proved his worth on a competitive Indiana team. Victor may not put up 20 ppg as third option on the Lakers but the key is he’s a guy who can put up those close to those points, boards, assists, blocks, and steals. The only area he is not all the way back is his shooting percentages, which is understandable when being the #1 option on losing teams. That will change on the Lakers as teams will have to focus on LeBron and AD leaving Victor to go against other team’s 3rd best defenders. He’ll get looks and lanes he never got in Indiana and Houston and has the talent and skill to take advantage of them at both ends of the court.
4. Yes, we don’t have picks but we do have THT, who’s the equivalent of a first-round lottery pick. And the Rockets are going to get lots of picks from their sale of Tucker, Gordon, et al. A big part of this trade for the Lakers is it’s a chance to get a superstar player because of concerns of injury and free agency. I don’t see many teams making a better offer than KCP, Kuzma, and THT. Most will be afraid of losing him to free agency. Lakers might even be willing to give him an extension but I think all they have to do is win a championship with him and then use Bird rights to extend him.
5. Which brings us to the financial considerations. Say the Lakers repeat and then extend Oladipo for $32M. That replaces Kuzma’s 13M, KCP’s $13M, and THT’s $10M or total of $36M. This is how the Lakers get a third max player to fit in the salary cap without going as deep in the luxury tax as the Warriors have.
Anyway, you’re right. I do love this deal. I hope you take the time to watch the two videos of Victor at his peak in 2018 and this year versus the Nets. He’s going to be traded and I would love to see the Lakers take a shot at him. Adding a third legitimate two-way superstar to LeBron and AD would catapult the Lakers back into the catbird’s seat as the favorite to win the championship.
Saw the videos but don’t take much away from single-game accomplishments/stats/what have you. He looks like a player, in both, who doesn’t let the pace of the game dictate his flow. Of the three players in your trade only THT still has that problem (Kuzma here and there but far less frequently than in seasons past).
Your point about the attention James and AD will get being unique to his career is pretty much the only reason I’d pull the trigger on this one. There are a bunch of concerns both regarding his health and our ability to keep him here (we don’t, for example, know if he wants to be head honcho on a team or is content being the 3rd fiddle, or worse).
And yes, I agree that bad teams have players with bad defensive ratings. I would shoot this trade down but the way KCP has been so unreliable has forced me to make trading him a priority. My thinking is both the coaches and the team are going to take a ‘law of averages’ approach to that situation, though.
Somehow missed this response but thanks for replying and can’t disagree with your points. It’s a calculated gamble to trade for Victor but a trade like this with risks is probably the only way to land a third superstar for the Lakers.
I don’t like this trade as much as I like the Turner trade but it was listed as #1 because it’s a legitimate opportunity to land a third star as the Rockets are going to trade Victor to somebody. I just hope if it happens, it would be to the Lakers rather than some team like the Clippers or Jazz or even Nets. Problem is always that it’s not who has the best trading chips but who’s willing to put them on the line.