In A Stunning Turn Of Events, Victor Oladipo Tells The Pacers He Actually Wants To Stay!

Well would you look at that! Not only does Victor Oladipo deny that he told opposing players he wanted to be traded, he actually has told the Pacers that he's committed and wants to stay. Imagine that! I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that nobody really seemed all that interested in trading for Oladipo. Teams he reportedly was interested in like Miami didn't share the same feeling apparently. Can you blame them? His injury risk is still a big factor, he didn't look all that great when he came back this season, and he wants big time money. 

Remember, Oladipo has 1 year left on his deal for $21M. It was reported earlier in the year that he was not interested in an $80M extension. If he's truly committed well then he's going to be willing to sign a team friendlt extension right? Until you put pen to paper, it's all bullshit. By coming out and saying this it does give the Pacers some options to where they don't HAVE to trade him this offseason and risk losing him for nothing if they can hammer out an extension that makes sense.

What it does do is make things a little bit more complicated if the Pacers are looking to move Myles Turner. If they wanted to maybe take back a larger salary, they would need to find pieces to trade other than Oladipo because Turner only makes $18M. So for example, a multi team trade around someone like Gordon Hayward and his $30M could be tough if Oladipo is off the trading block.

Something tells me though that if a team like Miami were interested in Oladipo, he'd be singing a different tune. Maybe this is all just a ploy to help bump up his value and give the Pacers more leverage in negotiations. Before, teams knew the Pacers would have to trade Oladipo if they couldn't reach an extension. Now, at least they can come back and say they don't have to unload him, and if another team wants to bring him in, they are going to have to pony up.

If he can get back to this version

I do think Oladipo can help the right situation. But as of now he's shown nothing that tells us he can get back to that level. That's why it's not all that surprising that he maybe canvased the market and realized that maybe the Pacers are the best place for him to be.