Milwaukee Bucks: 3 biggest risks in a Victor Oladipo trade
By Dalton Sell
Milwaukee Bucks: 3 biggest risks in a Victor Oladipo trade – Betting on Oladipo’s health
For the Bucks and any other team that might be monitoring Victor Oladipo’s situation with the Pacers, health is among the most prominent concerns.
Oladipo has spent a majority of the past two seasons spectating from the sidelines after rupturing his right quad tendon in January of 2019. The guard played just 36 games that season, and significant question marks were surrounding his NBA future after suffering such an injury.
Dr. Rodney Bennner, a knee specialist and orthopedic surgeon at the Shelborne Knee Center in Indianapolis, and Purdue University’s team orthopedic surgeon discussed the magnitude of such an injury in an interview with CBS Sports’ Brad Botkin last January:
"When I initially saw the injury, I started thinking about the potential bad injuries that happen like a patellar dislocation, an ACL injury, a quadriceps or a patellar rupture, even a patellar fracture — actually breaking the kneecap. And of all those things, unfortunately the quadriceps tendon rupture (which is what Oladipo suffered) is the injury I would least like an athlete to have."
Oladipo returned to the court on January 29 earlier this year and utlimately appeared in 19 regular season games and all four of Indiana’s playoff games in the first round. There was undoubtedly some rust with Oladipo after such a long layoff and even Oladipo himself would admit that he is not yet back to full strength.
After such a horrific injury and small sample size to assess his status over a year later, any team that has their eye on Victor Oladipo will certainly have to be cautious regarding his health moving forward.