NBA Orlando Magic

Victor Oladipo’s Injury a Big Blow for Orlando Magic

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By @DSchultz89

Victor Oladipo NBA Magic

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The Orlando Magic announced today that guard Victor Olapido will be out indefinitely with a facial fracture that he suffered during the team’s practice on Thursday.

Oladipo, the second overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, had a strong rookie campaign last season where he averaged 13.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 4.1 APG while shooting 42 percent from the field and a 33 percent clip from outside.

The Magic are hoping Oladipo will become a star for them given his boundless athleticism and steady improvement so far, but this recent injury is a big blow for both him and the team. The Magic have been rebuilding for the last couple years, and as it stands right now, they will probably not make the playoffs again this season.

With a healthy Oladipo in the lineup, they might have had a puncher’s chance at getting off to a hot start and using that to stay in the race for the eighth seed. But now without Oladipo in the lineup for the time being, this certainly hurts their chances to make any sort of impact in the Eastern Conference this year.

This is not to suggest that their other young players cannot get better this season. However, a lot of pressure will now be placed on rookie guard Elfrid Payton, swingman Evan Fournier and volume shooter Ben Gordon to produce while Oladipo recuperates from his injury. This is where losing a veteran like Jameer Nelson hurts the Magic, given how young they are and the fact that many of their players could really use a mentor as they find themselves in the league. The spotlight will also be on Tobias Harris to continue to add to his game, as well as big man Nikola Vucevic, who recently inked a four-year, $53 million extension with the club.

While I will not say the Magic’s season is totally over due to this injury because anything can happen in sports, it definitely will be important for the key young players of the team to step up their games and embrace more responsibility which will now be thrown their way.

Hopefully Oladipo will not be out for long, because he might very well become the team’s best player this year and one they count on to lead the team back to becoming a playoff squad at some point in time very soon.

Dan Schultz is an NBA sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.

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