Victor Oladipo leaves Orlando Magic fans wanting as he shines in Playoffs

Victor Oladipo has arrived as a potential superstar. He ran circles around the Cleveland Cavaliers in a surprising Game One win to mark his arrival.

The NBA Playoffs started this weekend with Victor Oladipo staring down LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The second overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft was in complete control. And when his team needed a big shot, he was the one who delivered.

The Cavaliers thought they could come back and erase the 23-point lead this young team had built. And Oladipo buried them with a 3-pointer. Right between the eyes. And through the heart. The Quicken Loans Arena filed out of the arena.

The young team was coming of age, upsetting the conference favorites. They had arrived after years of struggle and frustration.

Except this was not the Orlando Magic. Oladipo was not rocking blue. He was in yellow for the Indiana Pacers, leading them to a 98-80 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game One of their first round Playoff series.

The former Magic budding star racked up 32 points on 11-for-19 shooting from the field and 6-for-9 from beyond the arc for the Pacers. Oladipo had become actualized, matching his standout regular season with a Playoff performance to remember.

The likes of Stephen A. Smith praised him on Twitter. Smith tweeted the best player on the court was not James, who had a triple-double himself, but instead Oladipo.

After averaging 23.1 points per game in the regular season and making his first All-Star team, it is safe to say Oladipo has arrived in the NBA. His three sometimes frustrating seasons in Orlando behind him. And another gap year with the Oklahoma City Thunder behind him too.

Oladipo was not quite this in his time with the Magic. In his final year in Orlando, he averaged a mere 16.0 points per game on a 48.9 percent effective field goal percentage. Oladipo is now shooting 53.7 percent effective field goal percentage, increasing his 2-point field goal percentage from 47.5 percent in his final year in Orlando to 52.8 percent. All while his 3-point shooting has continued to develop.

Magic fans still look at the television screen with anguish and despair knowing Oladipo once was the team’s future. Now he is only a distant hope in their minds.

Oladipo was a fan favorite in the City Beautiful. He was named the 2015 and 2016 Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award Winner for his efforts off the basketball court in Orlando.

In his acceptance speech for the community award in 2015, Oladipo stated, “I plan on being around here for a long time. So, get used to my face.”

But Victor Oladipo’s face would become a distant memory after then-general manager Rob Hennigan traded him and 2016 11th overall pick Domantas Sabonis to the Thunder for Serge Ibaka and his expiring contract. It was a gamble for a team desperate to make the Playoffs and unsure how much to pay Oladipo in his impending free agency.

Orlando Magic

At the time, the Magic seemed to have a logjam at shooting guard with Evan Fournier and Victor Oladipo. Evan Fournier was a free agent and the team needed his shooting skill. He would end up being decidedly cheaper than Oladipo in free agency too.

The Magic would re-sign Fournier to a five-year, $85 million contract. It seemed like a favorable deal in that high-spending summer because back-ups like shooting guard Allen Crabbe received mega-deals. Crabbe signed a four-year, $74.8 contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Magic even gave a backup center in Bismack Biyombo a four-year, $72 million contract.

Oladipo would sign a four-year, $84 million extension with the Thunder that summer. Far below the market value he might have gotten staying with the Magic entering restricted free agency the following summer.

The gamble decidedly did not work. Oladipo struggled in his secondary role with the Thunder. But Ibaka’s addition proved to be a disaster. He averaged a career-high in points and shot well, but failed to transform the Magic’s defense or its culture. Orlando languished at the bottom of the standings again.

Orlando later traded him midway through the 2017 season to the Toronto Raptors for Terrence Ross and the 25th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

It is hard to say in hindsight the Magic made the right move.

Although, Oladipo had the higher ceiling. Both players had similar scoring averages (around 17). But Fournier’s shooting numbers were significantly better. He shot 40 percent from three compared to Oladipo’s 34 percent and seemed like a better fit next to an abysmal shooter in then Magic point guard Elfrid Payton. Also, another cornerstone piece in Aaron Gordon was a struggling shooter.

At the time, Fournier seemed the right choice for the Magic. That is if they truly believed their team was on the verge of a Playoff berth. They were not and the Magic ended up giving away one of their best young players for nothing.

The Magic essentially chose Fournier for a lesser price with Oladipo entering the final year of his contract and expectant of a near max-deal.

The difference in contracts seems like chump change with Oladipo’s stardom today. Fournier has been solid — 17.8 points per game with a 53.8 percent effective field goal percentage this year — but no one believes Fournier will be a star.

Oladipo is a star in the NBA and has a chance to become a superstar. Magic fans are full of regret over their team’s decision. Even now that the team has fired Hennigan and moved on to a new phase or their rebuild.

Magic fans cannot help but think this should be them in the Playoffs, watching Oladipo run circles around James and the Cavaliers.

Would Victor Oladipo be the same player he is today without being traded to the Thunder to play alongside Russell Westbrook or after getting traded two times within a years span? Oladipo is on record saying he did not think so.

Perhaps all these occurrences added fuel to the fire for Oladipo to become the player that he is today.

For two years, the Magic waited for Oladipo to make the leap to stardom. They lost their patience with him as they lost patience with their rebuild.

Next: Aaron Gordon believes he is a max player

Oladipo is the one reaping the rewards of faith in himself. Orlando is still lost in the wilderness. And all Magic fans can do is watch and wonder.