10 NBA Players Who Took Huge Leaps This Season
Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers
What a year it was for Victor Oladipo. After struggling with consistency as a second option behind Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, Oladipo shattered everyone's expectations this season in a starring role for the Indiana Pacers.
He replaced Paul George and helped Indiana improve on their win total from last season by six games, despite playing on a team with very little star power outside of him. He is the consensus Most Improved Player, was named to his first All-Star game, and has a chance of making his first All-NBA Team.
In terms of nERD, Oladipo went from being a net negative to a top-10 player in the East. He also was able to improve on his efficiency as a shooter, which is very impressive considering the bump in usage rate (21.4% to 30.1%). The table below shows just what a drastic improvement he made this season, with his boosted player efficiency rating (PER) standing out, too.
| Victor Oladipo | nERD | FG% | TS% | PPG | PER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | -1.2 | 44.20% | 53.40% | 15.9 | 13.6 |
| 2018 | 6.7 | 47.70% | 57.70% | 23.1 | 23.1 |
Fun Fact: After attempting only 34 "clutch shots" last season (Westbrook led the league with 184), Oladipo ranked fourth in the league in clutch scoring this season, while his Pacers had the league's third-best plus/minus in clutch time.
Oladipo's improvement was one of the most fun storylines of this season, and it will be exciting to see how far he can take this Pacers squad.
