The Big Question: Can Victor Oladipo take his game to an All-Star level?

For the Orlando Magic to continue to progress as a team, the big question looming about where Victor Oladipo‘s ceiling is will likely have to be answered.

A young roster teamed with a brand new head coach certainly makes for a climate loaded with questions. One chief among them is whether that young core can take the next step forward individually and as a team.

And nowhere can that be seen clearer than in the development of Victor Oladipo.

Victor Oladipo’s next natural progression as a player is to take a jump on the national stage and make his first NBA All-Star Game.  While All Star selections may be somewhat of a inexact science, I believe Oladipo has the opportunity this season to play at that level and vault himself into consideration.

On a recent Basketball Insiders podcast, Alex Kennedy picked Oladipo as a breakout player. His colleague Cody Taylor also wrote earlier this summer the guard is among players in the Southeast Division that could earn their first All-Star berth this upcoming season.

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Momentum is building it would seem for Oladipo to take that step up.

There is no question Oladipo has flashed his superstar skills since entering the league out of Indiana. His All Star clock may have even started a year earlier had it not been for the facial fracture that sidelined him for a handful of weeks at the start of the season.

Once healthy and free of a restrictive facial mask, he continued to get stronger. As Taylor outlined in his story, Oladipo averaged 20.3 points per game after the All-Star break.

Even accounting for early season action where he was still trying to gain footing, his 17.9 points per game placed him eighth in the East in scoring.

He had several big offensive displays late in the year that certainly would put him among the East’s best if he could deliver them consistently. In the final two months of the season, Oladipo had games of 38, 32, 29, and 30 points.

While All Star selections are largely based on offensive numbers, if there is any acknowledgement of Oladipo’s tenacity on defense during the process, it will only add to his candidacy.

Certainly, fans and those around the league alike will remember Oladipo has already acquitted himself well on an All-Star Weekend stage. He had a memorable Saturday night competing in the Dunk Contest at the Barclays Center and his 22 points during Friday’s Rising Stars Challenge led the U.S. team.

Guards that were named All Stars a year ago from the East included the Washington Wizards’ John Wall, Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving, Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler, and Atlanta Hawks’ Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver.  One would expect Irving, Wall, Butler and, health permitting, Wade to be right back in the mix for the game this February.

Oladipo certainly factors into that mix of players and could easily supplant Lowry or one of the Hawks backcourt mates in Toronto come February.

Regardless, if he plays like an All-Star for Orlando night in and night out, the Magic’s fortunes will be on the uptick. An All Star berth would be a signal of his and his team’s emergence this season.

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