Earlier this week, two time all star, Victor Oladipo, made it public that he wishes to move on from Indiana in the offseason. With a team built to make a playoff push, even after a down year last season, should the Kings go after the former number two overall pick?
Going after Oladipo could pose to be a risky move, but it wouldn’t be short of its own rewards. As mentioned, Oladipo is a two time all star and still relatively young at the age of 28. The drawback? Oladipo is coming off a ruptured quad tendon.
Oladipo didn’t make the most convincing case for himself; he didn’t look like the player he was before his injury in the last 19 games of last season. Although a small sample size, there is still enough reason to worry if he will be able crank it back up to all star level.
Additionally, Oladipo only has one year remaining on his contract. If the Kings do decide to go after him, they must be certain that they will be able to resign him in the offseason.
Oladipo won’t be cheap to resign and attaining any star-type player will be worth a pretty penny as well. To obtain Oladipo from Indiana, the Kings would most likely have to give up Buddy Hield, who just signed a big extension last offseason.
Although some say Buddy had a down year last season, he is still a valuable asset to the team and around the league. No matter how disgruntled he may be at the moment, there is that extension meaning Hield is locked down, providing security that he can’t leave Sacramento without getting assets in return.
Imagining a backcourt of Fox and Oladipo is exciting. Fox is a star in the making and if Oladipo can return to all star form, then the Kings would be an instant playoff contender, even after their poor play last year.
The team would be scary and have a legit all star on their team, which would be the first since DeMarcus Cousins. If they could resign a healthy Oladipo—provided that he showed that he could live back up to his potential—then this would truly be one of the greatest trades in Kings history.
High risk, but high reward. Should the Kings dish off an already discontent Buddy Hield potentially for a one year rental of an all star trying to regain form coming back from injury? The gut says no, but the potential the Kings could have with a healthy and extended Oladipo may be clouding my rational thinking.
