Miami Heat: Is Victor Oladipo’s potential impact being underrated?

The Miami Heat are all in for another star. That is apparent.

Being all over the rumor mill for what seems like the last month now, the Miami Heat are in on guys from Kevin Durant, to Donovan Mitchell, and even being linked to Collin Sexton again for the umpteenth time it feels like.

While all of that is going on, there are a few important things worth remembering. While there are a ton of factors surrounding it all, these four are key to everything.

The cost that it’ll take to land any of those guys won’t necessarily be cheap. While Sexton can probably be had for much less than the other two, Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant and the Utah Jazz just got back the church, the offering, the stained glass windows, the steeple, and a few of the church members for Rudy Gobert.

So, that means their price will be enormously high for Mitchell, perhaps the seven or so picks Ainge reportedly sought from New York. Speaking of what they’ll lose to gain one of the guys mentioned above or anybody else, for that matter, that takes us to the next bullet point.

Miami Heat: Is Victor Oladipo’s potential impact being underrated?

The second thing they must think about is the further development of their own guys.

When it comes to all of the guys, Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, Duncan Robinson, Haywood Highsmith, Caleb Martin, and especially the special guys like Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, they all have so much room for growth. The next thing to think about is how far they got in this past season.

Going all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, they even pushed that to a Game 7. Though they came up a bit short, they were mere clicks away.

Lastly, most importantly, and the strand that holds all of this together, is the return of Victor Oladipo.

Showing what he could do in the playoffs last season when his number was called, on both sides of the ball might it be said, he also gave you a dose of his old self in the Miami Heat’s final game of the year against the team that drafted him.

Going for 40 points, seven assists, and 10 rebounds on 13-22 from the field and 5-11 from three, he also added in two steals to tie a bow around a good night. Though the Miami Heat were defeated, the only thing keeping it from being a great night, it was enough to ask this question.

Can Victor Oladipo be a NBA Star again? Furthermore and specifically to this Miami Heat team in this upcoming season, can he be their missing star piece?

Miami Heat: You have to say so, as Victor Oladipo can be their third star

Say for example, you don’t make any moves if you are the Miami Heat. You strike out on Kevin Durant, you’re priced out on Donovan Mitchell, and you can’t find anything else worth the hassle. Hey, let’s say you do even make a slighter move for another power forward or something.

That still brings back a pecking order that looks something like this: Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro interchangeable at the third and fourth spots, then who?

While Lowry wasn’t able to be his best offensive self in every game last season, Tyler Herro doesn’t offer the same multipleness or two-wayedness that Lowry offers on a consistent basis either. That’s the thing about Oladipo.

Not only is he capable of giving you very high quality on both sides of the ball, but he can do so at multiple avenues on both sides. He is a good isolation defender, is a steals guy, and has the athleticism to even challenge up top.

You know he can attack and initiate on offense at a high level, while even beginning to show chops as a catch and act wing guy this past season. If he can find a way to consistently put it all together, as he did in his short time and opportunities this past season for Miami, he could quickly elevate to third on the pecking order.

That brings it all home though. Wouldn’t that also elevate him to being their third star?

By nature of pecking orders, alone, that is true. However, if he can produce at that high a level, is that a general proclamtion too?

Plainly put, with all the Mitchell, Durant, and whoever else noise, is Dipo being underrated? Can’t he, with a full offseason to reacclimate and actually improve as opposed to rehab, get back to himself and thus be their third high impact guy?

It’s certainly possible and likely, actually. Based on what you saw last season, when he was comfortable, he still has it.

So that means that it has to be a 50/50 shot (45/55 at worst) that he can be that guy. So, yes, he is being underrated but that typically motivates guys like him.

Especially as a member of the Miami Heat.