Philadelphia 76ers: 4 reasons to trade for Victor Oladipo
The Philadelphia 76ers should pursue the Rockets’ new star shooting guard.
The Philadelphia 76ers lost out on the James Harden sweepstakes as he was traded to an Eastern Conference adversary in the Brooklyn Nets. All the Harden endorsers and Ben Simmons loyalists that support the Sixers as a fan can now move past the trade that could’ve been. The missed opportunity now leaves the Sixers back in square one, looking for a high quality three-level scoring to compliment Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and the rest of the team.
It isn’t all bad, misery or doom and gloom for the Sixers in this situation. Why wouldn’t they remain in contact with the Houston Rockets for not-so future trade talks? The Rockets now are the home of Victor Oladipo and there are 4 good reasons for the Sixers to trade for him.
4 reasons to trade for Victor Oladipo: Fit
Victor Oladipo is a legitimate star in this league on both sides of the floor and that’s especially evident offensively as his career has progressed. Oladipo can flat out score the basketball in a multitude of ways, create for his teammates and that’s exactly what the Sixers need. With it either being attacking in transition, pick and roll, isolation, cutting to the rim, or coming off screens, Oladipo can do it all. In his career, Oladipo is averaging 17.4 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game, 3.9 assists per game, 44 percent shooting from the field, 35 percent from 3-point rage and 79 percent from the free throw line for his eight-year career.
These numbers seem to be right on par so far this season. In 10 games, Oladipo is averaging 21.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 44 percent from the field, 37 percent from three and 71 percent from the free throw line. Insert them on the Sixers and the club’s outlook on the season is much brighter. We can only imagine what an Oladipo-Embiid pairing would be like. This tag team would send a big ripple effect throughout the team’s offensive versatility and fluidity.
As we know from watching Joel Embiid’s career, the big man has never a had long term pick and roll partner. This may not be long term either (I’ll explain later) but would still be greatly beneficial. Just by running pick and roll with Oladipo and Embiid the defense has a few things it has to think about. Oladipo’s ability to pull up from 3 or the midrange, to drive by his opponent, to dish out timely passes to the roll man, Embiid’s ability to pop out for a 3 or his patented mid-range jumper, to finish in many ways around the rim, and Embiid’s improved passing ability.
All of those options leaves the complimentary players on the Sixers in better positions to contribute. Tobias Harris’ scoring in whatever way the defense gives him, Simmons cutting or making an extra pass, Seth Curry’s or Shake Milton’s off-ball prowess, and so on. The point being is the Sixers are a deep team and can score now, currently averaging 113.6 points per game, but acquiring Oladipo’s talents would catapult them to greater heights.