Indiana Pacers All-Star Victor Oladipo has been hinting about playing in the restart for quite a while now. Oladipo initially intended to sit out the “bubble” games as a precaution for his recent return to injury just over a month prior to the season's suspension back in March.
However, it seems like the 6-foot-4 guard will try to give it a go. And it could come as soon as Saturday. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Oladipo will go throughout a pre-game shootaround before determining his status against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo will go through a pregame warmup before determining if he’ll play tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 1, 2020
This is certainly welcome news for Pacers fans. However, playing on Saturday doesn't necessarily mean he'll be back for the entire restart. As mentioned, Oladipo joined the team in the NBA's Disney World campus in Orlando, Florida without the intention of playing. Over the past week, however, Oladipo said he will evaluate the way his body feels on a day-to-day basis.
Health is obviously still Oladipo's No. 1 priority at this point and only he can determine whether he feels good enough to play. The 28-year old missed nearly a year due to a ruptured quad tendon before returning to the court in late January this year.
Due to his lengthy layoff, Oladipo didn't quite look like the player that broke out into an All-Star in the 2017-18 season. In 13 games, Oladipo averaged 13.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting just 39.1 percent from the field.
Both the Pacers and the Sixers enter the season restart with identical 39-26 records, good for fifth in the Eastern Conference. With only eight games in the seeding games, this should be a pivotal game between two teams jockeying for better positions in the standings.
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