Philadelphia 76ers: 4 reasons to not trade for Victor Oladipo

Why the Philadelphia 76ers should avoid Victor Oladipo.

The Philadelphia 76ers lost out on James Harden. We all know this. You’re on this website, so I know are aware of a lot that goes on with the Sixers and the NBA. Harden wasn’t the only suitable fit for Philadelphia.

I am playing both sides, for the sake of conversation, of the debate that the Sixers should or shouldn’t trade for Victor Oladipo — giving four reasons on both sides. Conventional wisdom showed me that the reasons not to do the deal came quicker to mind.

4 reasons to not trade for Oladipo: Injury history 

The first reason to say no to an Oladipo trade is injury history. We know of this all too well following the Sixers and how important it can be. Fans still worry about Joel Embiid’s health today even though he’s about four to five years removed from battling chronic knee and foot injuries. It would only make sense to be worrisome for Victor Oladipo’s right quadricep tendon in his right knee to cause a problem. That could be the deal breaker because who knows what could happen.

Oladipo was riding high in All-Star status when he tore the tendon in late January 2019. It took him around a year to recover, returning in late January 2020 and finally the injury forced him to sit out the NBA bubble to further rehab the nagging injury. Everyone in the NBA relies on their legs, but some more than others. Oladipo is a talented, athletic, quick, strong two-way shooting guard.

His legs are super important to his game because of how he moves well off the ball, stopping on a dime for a pull-up jumper, exploding off the legs for a dunk, and decelerating to finish through contact. A torn quadriceps tendon is serious but a step or two below a torn ACL or Achilles tendon, yet it’s not comforting that the injury plagued him for a little while after. It just may be too much to have worry about another player getting hurt because it happened to them before.