Victor Oladipo Will Play in Pacers' Scrimmage vs. Blazers After Knee Injury

The Indiana Pacers have announced star Victor Oladipo will start in Thursday's exhibition against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Oladipo's status for the NBA's restart in Orlando, Florida, has been in doubt after he told The Athletic's Shams Charania on July 3 he planned to sit out. A few weeks later, the two-time All-Star had changed his tune.

Oladipo has been limited to 13 games this season after rupturing his right quad tendon in January 2019.

While Oladipo made a successful recovery from the injury, the COVID-19 pandemic will have disrupted whatever plan he and his trainers mapped out to ease him back to full strength. The NBA ordered teams to close their training facilities in March, and many state and local officials temporarily shuttered public gyms to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Oladipo told Charania he was "at a great place in my rehab and getting closer and closer to 100 percent" but expressed reservations about risking another injury by participating in Orlando.

The Pacers have already qualified for the playoffs and have eight seeding games to move up the Eastern Conference standings. A healthy Oladipo would make a big difference, both in those games and during the postseason.

It's not a foregone conclusion the 28-year-old will be back to his best, though. Prior to the suspension of the NBA season, he was averaging 13.8 points and 3.0 assists, down from 18.8 and 5.2, respectively, in 2018-19. He was also shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 30.4 percent from the perimeter, both career lows.

His performance Thursday should provide an idea of what to expect from him in Orlando.