MIAMI — With a Thursday deadline to opt into the $9.5 million second and final season on the two-year contract he signed with the team last July, Victor Oladipo largely stands as little more than a ledger entry for the Miami Heat when it comes to the impending NBA personnel period.
Expected to be sidelined well into the coming season by the knee injury sustained during the opening round of the playoffs, Oladipo lost any free-agency leverage with the torn left patellar tendon sustained April 22 against the Milwaukee Bucks, finishing the postseason on crutches following April 27 surgery.
Once Oladipo, 31, formally opts in, it makes him trade eligible, his contract then available to potentially utilize to balance a trade under the salary cap.
Oladipo last summer initially agreed to a one-year, $11 million contract, but then the deal was reworked to a smaller $8.5 million starting point for this past season, with the security of a second season. The lower 2022-23 figure made it easier for the Heat to work within the parameters of the 2022-23 luxury tax.
The extra season, however, now stands as problematic.
Based on the Heat’s current roster and their position hard against the most onerous tier of the luxury tax, the team potentially could duck further luxury-tax consequences by waiving Oladipo by the Aug. 31 “stretch” deadline. Such a move would allow the Heat to spread Oladipo’s remaining salary over the next three seasons, enough to drop the Heat, at least at the moment, below the second apron of the luxury tax.
Oladipo appeared in 42 games last season (two starts), averaging 10.7 points, 3.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 1.36 steals in 26.3 minutes. He scored 30 points off the bench on April 7 at Washington, the most off the bench in his career, and recorded five steals as a reserve on December 17 at San Antonio, tying the fourth-most by a Heat reserve.
Ultimately, Oladipo’s final moment with the Heat could be one that came in mop-up duty of a blowout playoff victory over the top-seeded Bucks.
Coach Erik Spoelstra spoke in that moment of the anguish felt for the veteran former All-Star.
“Sports, this forum of sports, you feel so many different emotions,” Spoelstra said in the immediate wake of Oladipo’s April 22 injury. “I think that was encapsulated in one night. We felt so good about the effort that we put forward to be able to win the game. The game was in hand, and then to have a moment like that, where it just swings and goes 180 degrees the other direction. Yes, there are injuries, that is a part of this game. We understand that. But the human side of it, when you see somebody that’s overcome so much, that he’s done it time and time again, and he always does it with an incredible positive spirit, and a smile on his face.”
Oladipo made a point of being with the Heat for their season-ending Game 5 loss to the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena, with Spoelstra saying the team was buoyed by the guard’s presence.
Oladipo’s career previously had been derailed numerous times since he ruptured a quadriceps tendon in his right knee while with the Indiana Pacers in January 2019.
Acquired by the Heat at the March 2021 NBA trading deadline from the Houston Rockets in exchange for Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and a draft-pick swap, Oladipo missed extensive time at the starts of the past two seasons recovering from ailments, appearing in only eight regular-season games in 2021-22 and then the 42 this past season.
The Heat depth at guard could be further thinned if Gabe Vincent and Max Strus depart in free agency.
The Heat’s backcourt depth at the moment is limited to true guards Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro, as well as wings Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson, Jamal Cain and first-round pick Jaime Jaquez. Even if Oladipo is waived, based on the team’s salary-cap situation it would not avail the Heat of an option in free agency other than signing a replacement at the NBA minimum.
Oladipo’s salary also potentially could be put into play in a trade for Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard, should rumor in that case turn into reality.
