Victor Oladipo has been an important piece for the Magic, and he can take the next step this summer.

When the Magic drafted Victor Oladipo with the second pick in the 2013 NBA draft, it was clear they wanted him to be the cornerstone of the franchise. After two seasons in the NBA, he has shown to have the potential to be just that, but he still needs to work hard to take his game to the next level.

Oladipo was the team’s first draft pick after the Dwight Howard trade, so he had an important role on the team from the start. He was thought of as an athlete and a defensive specialist, which seemed to be the type of player Rob Hennigan wanted to build the team around.

The Magic needed Oladipo to turn out to be at least a serviceable starter, and not only has he exceeded that role so far, but he has become possibly the most important player on the team.

At the Draft Combine, he measured in at a little taller than 6-foot-4 with shoes, but his wingspan was measured at a little longer than 6-foot-9. His long wingspan enables him to have the potential to create a lot of turnovers, and he has done a solid job of that so far.

Last season, he averaged about 1.7 steals per game, and in turn created about 3.3 points off turnovers per game.

However, when he played aggressive defense and missed on his chances, the Magic defense struggled with rotations. The team lacked the defensive awareness and rim protection needed to recover when Oladipo or others missed out on steal opportunities, and in turn the defense actually conceded more points per 100 possessions with Oladipo on the court than with him off of it (106.8 vs. the 105.2 team average).

His real defensive plus minus rating, which measures on court point differential per 100 possessions and controls for teammates and opponents, was still negative, meaning Oladipo still needs to work harder and play smarter defense.

Oladipo was forced to play off of his man more often than he may have liked to prevent opponents from attacking the paint, and it showed with the fact about 62 percent of his matchup’s field goal attempts were more than 15 feet away from the basket. In turn, opponents shot slightly better with Oladipo on them than their general average.

Wing players on teams like the Houston Rockets or Indiana Pacers like to close out hard on shooters and funnel them into the paint, where there is a dominant rim protector waiting for them. The Magic lacked that luxury and did not adjust well enough to play to Oladipo’s strengths on defense.

With the new defensive-minded head coach Scott Skiles, the team should look to improve its help defense and rotations and allow Oladipo to play to his strength as an aggressive on-ball defender. Oladipo should look to play smarter on-ball and off-ball defense and try to limit unnecessary risks until the team defense improves.