Pacers' Oladipo progressing toward return

[November 14, 2019]    Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo is on track to return to game action.

For his first full-court, 5-on-5 practice since rupturing his right quadriceps tendon in January, Oladipo was assigned to the Pacers' G League affiliate in Fort Wayne on Tuesday, where he practiced with the team and then rejoined the Pacers to continue his rehab.

Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (4) dunks against the Brooklyn Nets at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Pacers head coach Nate McMillan was present at the practice. He said Oladipo isn't ready to run full court every day, but the workout was noteworthy progress.

"I don't think this will be something he continues to do, the full court. I think he's still in the half court now playing 5-on-5, but we haven't been able to practice a lot in the last week or so because we're limited with the players that we have," McMillan said. "(Oladipo) hasn't been able to get in a lot of work with those off-days and us having to manage the group that we have."

Team president Kevin Pritchard said over the summer the Pacers were "hopeful he'll be back December or January."

The two-time All-Star injured the tendon in his right knee in a Jan. 23 win against the Toronto Raptors and had surgery later that month.

Oladipo, 27, averaged 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 36 starts before the injury.

Oladipo was the league's Most Improved Player in 2017-18, also earning first-team All-Defensive and third-team All-NBA honors that year.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.