The Miami Heat are in a very good position. Re-tooling and revamping their roster as they head into this season, they have a ton of new pieces in tow.
Heck, most NBA Executives rank grabbing Kyle Lowry as the move of the offseason. That’s on top of landing more toughness in P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris, keeping your resident sniper in Duncan Robinson, your size in Dewayne Dedmon, grabbing some, likely, gems in Omer Yurtseven, Marcus Garrett, and hopefully, DeJon Jarreau, and all while keeping Boy Wonder, Tyler Herro.
The Miami Heat were already big winners… and then their bonus prizes came to fruition. Singing the prove-it deal that most thought he would, the Miami Heat are bringing back Victor Oladipo on a one year deal at the minimum for a veteran like him, $2.3 million dollars.
How did both parties get here though? Well, the same way they’ll make it through this deal and hopefully, into his next one.
They got here by faith. Faith in themselves, faith in what they can do with and for a player, and most importantly, faith in Victor Oladipo.
It’s really all about faith in three phases here for the Miami Heat. Here’s what we mean.
Miami Heat: 3 Phases Of Faith On Victor Oladipo- Rocket Landing & Feeling Heat
The Miami Heat had to have known that the chances of the occurrence of what actually happened, might happen, after landing Victor Oladipo from Houston.
Phase 1- The Rocket’s Landing
After just four contests played with the Miami Heat last season, he was done.
However, that doesn’t do the feeling justice that was necessary to bring him over in the first place. Knowing his history, immediate and long-form, and knowing that he likely still needed work of some sort, the Miami Heat brought him in anyway.
Now, the fact that there has been a, seeming, longstanding admiration betwixt the two sides has a ton to do with it, but they did it. That was the first phase of faith in Victor Oladipo and the Miami Heat.
Phase 2- Feeling The Heat
The Miami Heat continued to show that faith this offseason, as they again, did what most thought they should. They continued to show faith and hope in Oladipo, a move that everyone clamored for, by giving him another deal to return to the team that he had…. effectively, burnt.
The Miami Heat moved pieces to land him, knowing his situation, and though can be attributed to several things… that same lack of depth at certain spots hurt them moving forward. That’s of no never mind though, because at just 70 percent, Oladipo would be well worth the deal.
However, all organizations or teams won’t approach it that way. The Miami Heat did and will now allow him all of the time necessary to recover.
That’s for their peace of mind, but also a display of faith in the process and in Victor Oladipo. The major display here though is in the trust and faith that he can get back to where he was or close, and paying him to do so, where the thought was that he might not sign with a team until he was 100 percent back healthy.
The Miami Heat made it happen early. That’s the second phase of faith in Victor Oladipo.
Miami Heat: 3 Phases Of Faith On Victor Oladipo- Turning Up The Heat
The Miami Heat made an investment into Victor Oladipo. Though he won’t play until… after the All-Star break, perhaps, they showed that whenever he’s back, they want him.
Phase 3 – Turning Up The Heat
If Victor Oladipo can return to somewhere near full strength, then the Miami Heat can boast one of the most fearsome lineups and at the very least, rotations, in the entire league. When thinking Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo, and Bam Adebayo as a group and about when they are right, that is one of the most grueling defensive foursomes you can come up with.
Every single one of them is capable of playing bigger than they are. They can all guard, at least, two positions and none of them are afraid.
Think about the ability on offense that it could offer though? Though a shooting guard by trade, he could allow Kyle Lowry to be off-ball at times, which isn’t terrible when you consider that Lowry shot nearly 40 percent from deep on over seven attempts last season.
Oladipo would also slot right into the second to third option as the main ball handler, second or third to save for those times where Jimmy just wants to be there. It’s really a ton of possibility when he’s right.
That’s where the third phase of faith with Oladipo begins.
The Miami Heat, apparently, feel as though he can get there. Then, it will be time to re-negoitate.
In that deal and obviously wanting to keep him around, based on the fact that they are in this current scenario, it will be time for him to show faith in Miami. With the Heat taking chances on him in these two seasons, including the upcoming one, he would then have to show them that he understood their risk.
This isn’t to say that he shouldn’t maximize his worth, but if it’s a matter of $1-7 million dollars, that shouldn’t stop him from re-signing in Miami, if they want him. That also means that he should approach the situation with a certain level of appreciation and ease for the Miami Heat.
It’d be only right. Again, he should always do what’s best for him and maximize his earnings, but there also has to be couth to it.
With the faith that the Miami Heat have continuously shown in him, it would only be respectable to reciprocate. These have been the Miami Heat’s three phases of faith in Victor Oladipo.