Pacers' Victor Oladipo hopeful he'll play during NBA resumption

Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo is unsure if he'll play when the NBA season resumes next month at Walt Disney World, but he's hopeful.

The 28-year-old plans to ramp up activity beginning next week before evaluating his repaired torn quad tendon and making a final decision on commitment to playing, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Oladipo wants to limit the risk of significant injury after returning in January from a full year of rehabbing the torn quad tendon.

"I feel a whole lot better," Oladipo told ESPN. "I know there's risk going into it with the unique situation that I'm in — being off so long and trying to ramp it up that fast. I've just got to be smart, that's all."

The Pacers, of course, have been cautious about bringing Oladipo back and plan to continuously monitor him throughout his ramped-up activity period. 

Oladipo's decision to increase activity comes with the NBA resumption looming and players needing to inform teams if they'll participate or not by Wednesday. However, a decision on Oladipo can be made later into July due to injury. 

Teams will be allowed to bring 17 players to Orlando with playoff rosters consisting of 15 total players — 13 active and two inactive. There will be a one-week roster window in late June for teams to sign new players or convert two-way contracts to standard contracts before entering the bubble.

In 13 games before the season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, Oladipo was averaging 13.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 30.4 percent from beyond the arc. 

The Pacers currently sit fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 39-26 record. In the 13 games Oladipo played, Indiana went 7-6.