3. Victor Oladipo fits well with the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster and teams are improving all across the league.
He really does. Oladipo has shown the ability to act as an offensive initiator and secondary ball-handler as somewhat of a combo guard. While Avery Bradley fit this mold with the Los Angeles Lakers this past season prior to the pandemic, Oladipo fits an entirely different archetype.
One is an offensive dynamo when healthy and the other is a defensive-minded player. Rajon Rondo seems poised to leave LA for a larger dollar figure and with LeBron James aging, getting that combo guard to give him a break is a necessity.
While there might be more cost-effective options out there that fit the Lakers’ cap space ambitions, Oladipo easily has the greatest potential to act as a third star.
A fourth-quarter lineup that features DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Alex Caruso, and Victor Oladipo could be deadly. Even without Cousins, the Lakers can mix and match with other ring chasers to fit the squad.
If Oladipo can be even just 80% of his 2018-2019 season this upcoming year, the Lakers will get their investment back and then some.
The Lakers will be able to get more creative with their guard rotations with Oladipo around. Alex Caruso and Rajon Rondo are virtually one-dimensional players and Oladipo is not (when healthy).
In addition, the Lakers will have more competition for a title this season with Golden State getting healthy, the emergence of the Brooklyn Nets, and the Clippers looming. That’s just to name a few. A ring will not be a cakewalk this season — not even close to it. Cementing a third star into the rotation keeps you on top.
Victor Oladipo might not be the perfect candidate to fill the tertiary star role for the Lakers, but he is definitely a solid one-year stopgap as the Lakers position themselves to enter the summer of Giannis with cap space galore.