Should Victor Oladipo be viewed as an NBA Trade Deadline asset or a potential savior for the season?
While the team has played better in the last month or so, the Miami Heat still leave plenty to be desired on a nightly basis. They are highly inconsistent and don’t have much hope of getting back to the level of play that had them one win from a second NBA Finals berth in three years.
Currently, the Heat is outside the top 6 in the Eastern Conference and would need to play their way into the postseason. And with how inconsistent this team has been this year, especially against some of the worst teams in the league, there should be no confidence that they would even be successful in the Play-In Tournament.
Because of that, it leaves this organization with some big questions to answer heading into the NBA Trade Deadline. Specifically, the Heat has some big questions pertaining to one player – Victor Oladipo.
Victor Oladipo has fueled the Miami Heat recently
After a slow start to the season, in which he missed the first two months of the schedule, Oladipo has become one of the team’s most important players as of late. In the 16 games he’s played in, Oladipo is averaging 11 points per game on 41 percent shooting from the field.
On the surface, those numbers don’t look that impressive. However, it seems he’s getting strong with every subsequent game.
In his last six games specifically, Oladipo is averaging 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists on 46 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent from 3-point range. The Heat has gone 4-2 over that stretch, and their two losses came by a combined four points.
It’s no surprise that the Heat is better when Oladipo is playing at this level. That’s kind of the reason why they bought low on him at the trade deadline a few years ago. However, the bigger question that the Heat also must answer is whether or not Oladipo’s emergence alone is enough to get the team’s season back on track.
Because if the answer to that question is no, that Oladipo’s emergence alone won’t make all that much of a difference for this team during the push toward the playoffs, then perhaps there’s another conversation that the front office has to have regarding Oladipo – whether it’s time to trade him when he’s healthy and beginning to look like his old self.
With the NBA Trade Deadline less than a month away and with the Heat low on trade assets, Oladipo’s recent play kind of opens a small opportunity for the Heat. Could Oladipo be moved to fill a bigger need for the team? If so, would it be worth it?
There’s an argument to be made that Oladipo’s emergence may have saved the Heat’s season. However, at the same rate, you can argue that this is as good of a time to trade Oladipo as ever. If Oladipo can continue to play at this solid pace this season, it’s likely that he’s going to play himself out of the Heat’s price point during the offseason (Oladipo has a player option for next season).
If that is indeed going to be the case, perhaps it would be in the Heat’s best interest to try and sell high on him at the trade deadline. In the process, perhaps they could fill the enormous void they have at the power forward position. If nothing else, it’s something else that this front office will have to think about and, ultimately, consider.