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A full-circle moment for Victor Oladipo as Rockets arrive, with ex-Heat guard again in holding pattern

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·3 min read

MIAMI — The Houston Rockets’ Monday night visit to Kaseya Center stands as a full-circle moment for former Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo. Even in the absence of Oladipo.

Acquired by the Heat from the Rockets at the 2021 NBA trading deadline for Kelly Olynyk and Avery Bradley, Oladipo again is on Houston’s roster — as a contract, not as contributor.

For Oladipo, the past six months have been an exercise in the cold reality of how an injured NBA player can be reduced to nothing more than a ledger entry on a spreadsheet.

It started — or more to the point, ended — for Oladipo when he suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left knee during the third game of the Heat’s playoff run to last season’s NBA Finals.

Forecast to be out as long as a year, the affable 6-foot-3 guard was dealt by the Heat to the Oklahoma City Thunder along with two second-round picks on July 6 in what amounted to a salary dump.

Then, on Oct. 17, without ever taking the court for the Thunder, Oladipo was dealt by Oklahoma City to Houston, with the Rockets’ priority in that deal the two second-round picks gained and the ability to offload the contract of guard Kevin Porter Jr.

On the final year of his contract, it is unlikely Oladipo takes the court for the Rockets this season.

To Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, there is the business side. But also the personal side.

“He’s had so many of these setbacks, but he has dealt with each one of them with such inspiring grace, that you really root for him,” Spoelstra said ahead of the Heat opening a four-game homestand with Monday night’s matchup against the Rockets. “We still keep in touch with him. And you just want to see him get out there, be healthy, so he can contribute.”

For the Heat, the luxury-tax math required getting off of the guaranteed $9.5 million due Oladipo this season. While that resulted in an equivalent trade exception for the Heat, that was not the impetus, the Heat unlikely to utilize the trade chip.

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“Those are tough decisions an organization has to make, particularly when you have great relationships with people,” Spoelstra said of last summer’s Oladipo trade. “That’s how we view Vic. He’s Heat family. We want to see him get back out there one way or another.”

After a series of knee and quadriceps procedures, including a pair with the Heat, Oladipo displayed the type of perseverance that resonated with Spoelstra.

“He has the fortitude and he has this incredible positive spirit that you could only understand if you’ve been around him,” Spoelstra said.

So while Oladipo was traded away, Spoelstra said the Heat staff has not walked away.

“Texts and we all FaceTimed him earlier in the season,” Spoelstra said.

Oladipo was injured with the Heat in the midst of a 121-99 rout of the Bucks, a hush engulfing Kaseya Center after the non-contact injury that came with an awkward landing along the baseline, the postgame celebration muted.

And so, with 3:56 to play on April 22 and the Heat up 24, it was over.

“He finally worked himself back with us, where he was really contributing,” Spoelstra said, with Oladipo with eight points in his 19:06 when assisted off the court. “That game that he injured himself, he really was putting his fingerprint on that.”

Another Heat tour in light of the team’s youth on the wing would appear unlikely, with Oladipo to be a free agent this summer.

But with Oladipo just 31, Spoelstra said an NBA comeback certainly is within the realm.

“He’s still young. And he has that fortitude,” Spoelstra said. “Not many people could handle that kind of adversity and still find a way to push through. Vic is one of those guys. So he’ll be back and we’re rooting for him.”