The Miami Heat are, seemingly, back on track. While this is certainly no time to rest on their laurels, the Miami Heat got a huge win on Wednesday over the Boston Celtics, doubling down on a blowout of the Sacramento Kings on Monday.
Though they were supposed to beat the lesser Kings, the fashion in which they did says a ton about the team’s ability to shake off the adversity that was last week.
For a true cherry on top and barometer of where they are now, the Celtics defeat, in what might’ve been the best game of the entire NBA season, was just what they needed to be certain of where they stood in the final week or so of the year.
Even before the incidence of last week though, the blowup, the losing streak, and the conversations that would follow, many thought that a shakeup might be coming to the Miami Heat’s rotation. In combination with those thoughts, it was often wondered who might suffer once this team was at full strength.
Missing Markieff Morris, as he missed nearly 60 games after being sneakily struck in the back by Nikola Jokic in November, and Victor Oladipo, who looks to be finally free from the knee issue that’s been bothering him the last couple of seasons, the thought was that they would be key parts of the rotation once and if they returned this year.
Of course, that meant that one of the guys that had helped the Miami Heat get to where they had gotten so far in the season would be out of an opportunity. And While that did seem to be the case for a little bit there, things have now begun to regulate themselves, sort of.
Miami Heat: Another ‘Show Me’ Year In The Cards For Victor Oladipo?
Where you thought Max Strus might be the odd man out, he has now jumped into the starting lineup, firmly placing Duncan Robinson as a key reserve and along with Dewayne Dedmon, who a couple of games of inactivity seemed to do wonders for, Morris and Oladipo find themselves on the outside looking in.
While Keef was a member of the rotation prior to his injury, development and advancement without him in the lineup seem to have led them to move slightly beyond him as a regular full-time member. Though revisiting him in the offseason is something you have to consider, his situation doesn’t seem as tricky as the other dude does in this scenario.
With Oladipo coming off of that injury, being signed by the Miami Heat to, basically, recover, and then not being able to fully be what you thought he might be yet, thus causing Coach Spoelstra to turn away from him at the moment, what does that mean for his future with the Miami Heat?
Well, no one can say for certain, but here is a theory. He hasn’t really shown a ton yet.
That isn’t to speak to his level of play as a whole, as much as his opportunity or minutes, themselves, haven’t been great enough to make a real determination on where he is or can get back to, as a player, at the moment. He’s certainly not at his peak, yet, but you also haven’t really seen enough from him to make a determination on where you think his peak now lies.
Though it may not be what he wants to hear, you have to imagine that there will be few teams willing to go much beyond the one-year prove-it type deal this offseason. Though it might be more than the $2.3 million he signed for with Miami this past offseason, you can’t really see that figure being that much higher either, perhaps as much as $10 million on a great day.
That too is still paying for hope and potential though.
Miami Heat: It Wouldn’t Be The Worst Idea For Either Party To Get Him Back
Frankly, Oladipo still needs to show some stuff to whoever may sign him this offseason. It doesn’t seem like he will get a heavy dose of opportunity during the postseason and while he came back too late to be fully and properly himself integrated into the Heat’s rotation, you imagine that him showing his stuff will have to happen as next season begins to unfold.
The point of it all is this. Even after the rehab and all the happy tidings about him coming back, the only thing more that you know that you didn’t know at the beginning of the last offseason is that he is healthy.
Yes, that’s a plus and a major one for him that you are extremely happy about but as a player, you can’t put a true value on that. He is still in a prove-it type phase of play, meaning he still has to show what he can be at his new best so that you can properly deem what he should cost on the open market.
That, likely, means another “show me” type deal, where a team needs to see what he is at this point before offering something long-term-ish or simply, how to move with him in general. You shouldn’t be mad if that’s the Miami Heat again.
In fact, it should be and that stands for both sides. The Heat have been good to him, bringing him back to a situation where he wanted to be, taking the chance of not getting a ton from him(which it seems might actually be the case with him out of the rotation at the moment), and paying him to do it.
He still has a ton of potential left in him too though, one would imagine, which could certainly benefit Miami beyond this year. So, yes, another Miami Heat “show me” type deal wouldn’t be the worst idea.