Victor Oladipo was supposed to help the Miami Heat go from solid playoff team to title contender. Unfortunately, injuries derailed his time in South Beach.
He only ended up playing four games in a Heat uniform. To make matters worse, he didn’t play particularly well in those games.
Oladipo averaged 12 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists with the Miami Heat. He shot 37.2% from the field and 23.5% from three-point range.
While his time with the Miami Heat was obviously a small sample size, his performance doesn’t bode well for his upcoming free agency. Oladipo will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and is reportedly looking for a long-term deal.
The shooting guard turned down a two-year, max contract extension from the Rockets before being traded to Miami. His reasoning was that he wanted a longer deal.
Well, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, he likely won’t get offers worth that much this offseason. According to his “BORD$” rating, Oladipo is only worth around $11 million.
While a full explanation can be found here, BORD$ is essentially a bunch of statistics and other factors combined in a formula that produces a number. That number is equal to how much a player is worth per season.
Hollinger lists Oladipo as the fifth-most valuable shooting guard on the market this offseason. The four in front of him include Danny Green, Evan Fournier, Norman Powell, and Tim Hardaway Jr.
The main reason behind the low value is Oladipo’s injury. He just underwent surgery to repair a torn quad and has performed poorly ever since his other surgery back in 2019.
However, Hollinger does propose one possibility that is only available to the Miami Heat. They could sign him to a one-year contract that allows them to maintain some financial flexibility, and then sign him to a long-term deal next year.
"“However, there is one really interesting angle here available to Miami, and only Miami: The Heat could re-sign him to a one-year deal for the room exception this year (enabling the Heat to use cap space on other players) and then fork out a bigger multi-year contract a year from now. The Heat would have full Bird rights and would have exhausted their cap room by then, so the only implications for going big on Oladipo in 2022 would be the luxury tax (easy for us to say).”"
This may not sit well with some Miami Heat fans as dreams of Kawhi Leonard and Lonzo Ball swirl around in their heads. However, this could be the best route possible if they want to compete right now and in the future.
It is a dangerous risk to take, though. Oladipo’s injury could hold him back next season, but if it doesn’t, he could eventually be back to his All-Star self.
Hollinger goes on to explain this risk, but he also claims that Oladipo is going to be one of the most interesting free agents to watch this summer.
"“Oladipo is only 29, but with his injury history, any long-term deal is a risk. Overall, this makes him one of this summer’s most fascinating free agents; you could tell me virtually any number for his contract and I wouldn’t be surprised.”"
As mentioned, the Miami Heat are in the best place to sign Oladipo to a deal that would make him happy. The only question is whether or not they are willing to do so.
On the one hand, they don’t want to lose the value they gave up for him for nothing. On the other hand, his injury history is something that cannot be ignored, and they could figure out a way to pull off a sign-and-trade.
A trio of Oladipo, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo seems like it could be great on paper. The Miami Heat just have to hope that the on-paper ideas are able to translate onto the court.