At last year’s NBA Trade deadline, the Miami Heat were rumored to be interested in, then, Indiana Pacers guard, Victor Oladipo. More than a year later and although he is on a different team now, there still seems to be interest.
As recently as over the last week or so, NBA reporter, Brian Windhorst, has stated that he thinks Oladipo could actually “go cheap”. The Heat may have timed the market perfectly.
At 28 years old, Oladipo has plenty of time to get back to his All-NBA days. Since coming back from injury, he’s been inconsistent and his field goal percentage this year is worrisome at just 39 percent.
But, that may not entirely be his fault. While recovering from injury, the Pacers added Malcolm Brogdon and when Oladipo came back, the two guards weren’t able to form any sort of chemistry together.
After that, he was shipped off to Houston, where the team is in complete flux.
Will the Miami Heat finally find a way to bring Victor Oladipo into the fold?
For a team like the Heat, who seem to be one piece away from seriously contending for a championship, this could be a great opportunity to acquire a distressed asset. But they need to set a firm choke price.
Kendrick Nunn is an exciting young player and along with salary filler, that is all the Heat should be willing to offer. Considering they still have significant draft capital and plenty of young talent, the Miami Heat are one of the few top tier teams that have the assets to theoretically acquire Bradley Beal, Zach LaVine, or some other star should they become available as well.
If they dip too far into their reserves now, they could be outbid in the near future for a superstar that wants to play for a contender. There are still concerns with the team, but now is not the time to panic.
Due to their NBA Finals run, the team has had essentially no off season and Jimmy Butler has already missed 14 games. Even after this troubling four game skid, the Heat are in fifth place in the East.
Miami should offer the Rockets their pitch, but should also be excited go to war with their team as constructed. If so, Oladipo still might come to Miami via free agency this summer.
That’s something to hang your hat on if you can’t get anything done by the deadline.