AUGUST 7: The move is official, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel, who confirms that it’s a one-year deal for the veterans minimum. Miami will retain Bird Rights on Oladipo.
“We really like Victor’s versatility and how he impacts the game in multiple ways,” team president Pat Riley said. “His speed skill set fits perfectly into the core we have built.”
1:00pm: It’s a minimum-salary contract for Oladipo, a source confirms to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).
AUGUST 4, 12:29pm: Free agent guard Victor Oladipo has agreed to a deal to rejoin the Heat, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
While Charania doesn’t provide any additional details on the terms of the contract, he tweets that Oladipo’s plan is rebuild his value and return to the open market in 2022, which suggests it’s a one-year deal. Given Miami’s limited cap flexibility, it’s likely worth either the veteran’s minimum or something close to it.
Oladipo, who was named an All-Star in 2018 and 2019, has been slowed in recent years by a ruptured quad tendon he suffered in January 2019. The 29-year-old missed approximately a full calendar year while recovering from the injury and didn’t look like his old explosive self upon returning.
The Pacers traded Oladipo to the Rockets in the four-team James Harden blockbuster earlier this year, and Houston subsequently flipped him to Miami at the trade deadline. The former No. 2 overall pick was able to play in just four games for the Heat before health issues ended his season.
Oladipo went under the knife in May, once again undergoing surgery to repair his right quad tendon. There had been some speculation that he might not sign a new deal for a few months while he gets healthy, but it appears he’ll complete his rehab while under contract with the Heat.
According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), the veteran guard is optimistic that he’ll be able to return to the court sometime between late December and early February.
Oladipo’s best individual season came in 2017/18 with the Pacers, when he averaged 23.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.3 APG, and a league-high 2.4 SPG with a .477/.371/.799 shooting line. While the Heat aren’t expecting those kind of numbers from him when he returns this year, they reflect his ability to make a major impact on both ends of the court when he’s fully healthy.
If Oladipo can contribute during the second half of the 2021/22 season, he’ll give the Heat another option to deploy in tough defensive lineups that will feature the likes of Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Bam Adebayo, P.J. Tucker, and Markieff Morris.
Tell me a couple years ago you thought Oladipo would be a vet minimum salary sign.
Could say the same for Cousins
7 or 8 months ago that would’ve sounded crazy. Houston offered him 42 million extension when they got him and he declined it.
Ouch…ouch….
I DID have a fellow Bucks fan tell me that he thought we’d sign “Dipo” to a contract this off-season. I was confused and asked who he was talking about…and literally said, obviously you don’t mean Oladipo…he just turned down 2/40.
And this was before this past season. So…no, I didn’t think it, but I know one guy who did. And his thinking was he’d sign because…I guess he’s friends with Giannis. No idea if there’s truth to that, but if there is…I guess it’s not enough to get him to sign. But still.
Boogie Cousins lost $150 million due to injury
and he’s probably out of the league after the latest domestic violence incident.
Another one? He should’ve been done after the first one.
And a perceived bad attitude.
I love the squad my Heat have built. Hopefully Dipo can be a factor come playoff time.
Sign Lou Williams or Danny Green and call it an off-season.
Can the Heat offer anyone more than a minimum contract at this point?
No
Lou Williams apparently wants the Heat to call him… no idea on Danny Green right now.. Lou might be a better fit since he can defend against SF’s and Green isn’t known for that.
Green can guard multiple positions just fine, he is a prototypical 3 and D lol
Yeah…I feel like he may have gotten that backward because that’s literally what Green excels at and what Lou Will can absolutely NOT do. That had to have just been a slip…right?
Danny Green is a really, really good wing defender at multiple positions. Lou Williams isnt a defender at any of them
Best thing to do is let him heal. Get in game shape. And he strong for playoffs. He’s playing for a contract. So he should be all in in a good yr.
I doubt he ever sees close to the money het got offered and turned down.
Everyone can talk about Riley as a coach but I’ve been more impressed with what he’s done with the Heat. Yes he was handed the big 3 essentially but the way he consistently retools his roster is impressive. He must be a hell of a salesman.
I’m sure being in one of the nicest cities in America doesn’t hurt either lol
You say he was “handed” the Big three.. you get he had to clear the deck for 5 years to get that to be possible right? After the 2006 title the Heat began planning for 2010.. every move after they traded Shaq to PHO in 2007 was aimed at freeing cap space. I remember Pat himself putting out a sarcastic press release saying “who wants a 1 year deal?” lol
I’m surprised he didn’t turn this down too
He probably tried to get a contract from all other 29 teams and was never offered anything over the minimum… now he gets to play for the team he wanted to his entire career and “show me” he still has it.
If that dude healthy him butler and Lowry that a decent team a lot better than their bubble team
This is a good move by the Heat. To land VO on a minimum deal there is little to no risk and the upside if he is healthy (and wants to build a new chance for $ next year)…the Heat are gonna be tough
Riley at it again, I could see this team make the Finals. Sure Brooklyn has the firepower and key role players in Blake and Bruce along with Mills but Lowry will bring so much as a leader for the Heat which they lacked last season.
They will lose in the first round.
to who? The Knicks? LOL
Yea turn down the 45M extension, good idea. Smdh who do these guys listen to?
If he was healthy he’d be getting more than DeRozan just got.
Need taller and better big men!!! Nice seeing the Heat make some moves. While I love Jimmy, Lowry, Bam, Robinson and Victor (if healthy) – the Heat need taller and more talented big men. They got out-rebounded against the Lakers in 2020 and out-rebounded against the Bucks in 2021. In my opinion – they need some taller talent besides Dedmon to compete.
Lowry isn’t enough.
@HeatFan2021
Agreed. I’ve been saying the same thing the whole time. We can load up on all the talented little guys, but if we keep giving up offensive rebounds and being one and done on the offensive side, we will only be a pretender for the title.
Drummond was out there for Minimum. Don’t get the hate for this guy. I must be getting old.
@KnickerbockerAI
You know, I wondered that too. Drummond essentially signed to be a backup in Philly when he could start on title contenders. With the Heat, he’d be a huge add because of his size. He’d be able to move Bam to the 4 and then open up so much for Jimmy and Lowry, along with guys like Duncan, Herro and Oladipo, etc.
I hope we get some talent with size. If we don’t get a known commodity, this should be one of those times when Riley pulls off one of those scrapheap finds that he’s known for.
Meh…as long as the team is healthy, I think the Heat are better off with Bam playing the 5 for the most part.
Lowry/Oladipo/Herro/Robinson/Butler/Tucker/Morris/Bam
Dedmon and I don’t know about the young kid from Stanford, but you can create a lot of nice matchups there. You’re gonna get beat on the boards vs Milwaukee, but just about everyone will as long as they’ve got Giannis/Portis/Lopez and their guards rebound so well…
That’s a big enough playoff lineup. I guess someone like Baynes might be a nice addition and you aren’t gonna wanna play PJ much in the regular season, but I feel like Spo’s gonna be able to figure out a pretty nice 8 man rotation come May/June.
@HiAndTight
I hope Spo does figure it out. I just don’t think we can win a championship without a legit big guy somewhere. We have been dominated by big men – not just Milwaukee’s, but multiple teams.
Lol you’re still talking about Drummund. Amazing…again, heat already dealt with Whiteside. They dont need to do it again
@formerlyz
We keep missing the chance for adequate big men, so at this point I’m looking for anything with decent talent. We can’t continue to let teams’ big guys dominate us because we’ve been losing a lot of the games when that’s happened – regardless of how good or bad the opponent is. All they’ve needed is a big guy to dominate the paint and backboard, and we’ve had all sorts of problems in those games.
They only need a big that can post defend, and rebound in certain matchups for 8-14 minutes…they have that. They lost to Milwaukee b/c they went ice cold and missed bread and butter looks, and b/c they let Milwaukee get away with using Bobby Portis without making them pay for it defensively…and they did that by using that big too much, instead of using Bjelica, who could have played on the perimeter, knocked down shots, and made plays off the dribble. Every time, the Heat were late on rotations and giving up corner 3s to Pirtis, Forbes, etc, and they also couldn’t stop Jrue Holiday from getting in the paint, b/c the Heat guards havent been able to defend the point of attack the last couple of years, which is why they got Oladipo in the first place, and why they now signed Kyle Lowry…the Heat have Dedmond. The only other big they need now has to space the floor, to replace Olynyk
Also, Andre Drummond is not a good player. This guy has been talking about him the last year plus, and keeps bringing him up at every turn, and now you see what I’m talking about b/c nobody wanted him.
The Heat lost because they’re not as good. Heat got swept 4-0, so much for your analysis.
You don’t know how Bjelica looked in practices or even games, since he did not play much. He should in theory, but MIL beat them with or without Bjelica. He only had one positive +/- in the last 20-30 games. He cares… about Serbia. This is just money over here.
Agree on Drummond, like everyone else who roots for a team he has played on.
wouldn’t be shocked by a flyer on Cousins… I agree they need a depth big to take pressure off Bam and even let him play the 4 at times.
I love this move with bringing Oladipo back. He can take his time to get back, and if he does come back in good condition, we’ve got something good in the making.
Sweet Lou and Danny green aren’t going to Miami and this heat team isn’t built to compete with the big three of the bucks nets Sixers sorry pat.
Sweet Lou apparently is telling reporters he wants the Heat to call him… check a few articles above this one.
Should have took the money from the Pacers. Great pickup for Miami tho
That was the only real offer he got. Oladipo already said the one he received from Houston wasn’t sincere as they had no intention of retaining him.
This is what I was hoping for the moment he was ruled out for the season… Let him use the Heat facilities to get healthy.. then its “show me” time.. if he’s even 85% of Victor Oladipo come play off time.. the Heat could have 5-7 guys that could score 20 points without trying hard. How are teams gonna guard a small ball line-up Bam, Duncan, Butler, Oladipo, Lowry (or Herro)…. that team is offensively lethal.
HEAT still too small ……… need a legit stretch big, or at least a big to take up space in the paint.
Baynes, Aldridge (if he’s medically cleared) …… dunno, who else is available.
Kaminsky, Vonleh, Harry Giles, Thon Maker, Luke Kornet, Ersan Ilyasova are all available, and they have Yurtseven in summer league.
LaMarcus Aldridge, if he is healthy, and is actually coming back, obviously would also be an option
Yurtseven will be their 2-way, he’s way too raw.
If Aldridge is cleared, then it’s between the NETS and HEAT again.
I dont think he’s going to be on a 2 way. They’re saving those spots for their guards/a wing in summer league. I could be wrong though.
Also to clarify, I’m not suggesting they ignore those others due to Yurtseven. I’m saying that if they dont sign one of those guys, that’s probably who they’re going with.
I would agree. He had some lazy moments so far where he telegraphed passes or didn’t make a quick enough move in the paint, and had his pass deflected or had the ball knocked out of his hands. That being said, he does look potentially really useful for what they need. Dont remember enough of how he looked defensively though
There might not be enough roster spots to grab the 2 wings and the floor spacing big they need…unless UD retires for some reason, which I dont see making sense, or they get rid of both Okpala and achiuwa, which I guess I could see after signing Morris, considering I would prefer Okpala over Morris
If Oladipo gets healthy, that would theoretically make the Heat incredible defensively, and he fits with Lowry…
Still need those positions I mentioned though
Achiuwa is part of the Lowry sign-and-trade, so he’s gone.
Both means more than one