Victor Oladipo – Miami Heat (formerly Houston Rockets)

After being dealt to the Houston Rockets as an extension of the James Harden to Brooklyn trade back in January, there was a ton of speculation that Victor Oladipo was going to be on the move again and the rumors were right as he was dealt to the Miami Heat during the last few minutes before this year’s NBA trade deadline. 

There had been a ton of mutual interest between the Heat and Oladipo ever since the beginning of the season and after getting to watch him for about half a year, not only were the Heat able to come to the conclusion that he can still play at a high-level, but they were able to acquire him for an expired coupon and a bag of popcorn! 

Well, not really, but Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and a first-round pick swap are not even close to being on the same level and value as Victor Oladipo! Avery Bradley may be in the final years of his career and Kelly Olynyk is nothing special other than being a stretch big man who can knock down shots from the perimeter! 

The Miami Heat literally stole Victor Oladipo from the Houston Rockets without having to give up any of their biggest assets and the league had nothing to say about that, even though they had a problem with Chris Paul potentially teaming up with Kobe Bryant back in 2011 in what was supposed to be a three-team trade between the Hornets, Lakers and Rockets. 

Now, the Miami Heat have exactly what they need to make a push for another NBA Finals run and they may actually have a shot to duplicate their late season success from a season ago. Victor Oladipo has been fantastic this season, as has Jimmy Butler. The two of them, along with Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Goran Dragic make up a strong Miami Heat team that can get after opponents on both ends of the court. 

Going to a championship caliber team like the Heat is the best situation for Victor Oladipo because if it works out and they make a deep playoff run, then he can choose to sign there long-term, but if it does not work out, the good news is that he is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and can sign wherever he wants. 

This trade is a win-win for Victor Oladipo and quite honestly it is a win-win for the Miami Heat since they did not have to give up anything major to acquire him. Even if he leaves in the offseason, the Heat would still be able to bring in another high-level talent since they would have over $20M in cap space.