Former Hoosier Victor Oladipo Traded to Miami Heat
Victor Oladipo is on the move again.
The former Indiana star was traded from the Houston Rockets to the Miami Heat on Thursday as the NBA trade deadline approached. The Heat will be his third team this season – and fifth team in his eight years in the NBA – after he was traded from the Indiana Pacers to Houston earlier this year.
The Rockets acquired Oladipo in January as part of the James Harden trade. Oladipo averaged 21.2 points during his time in Houston. Before joining the Rockets, he was a two-time NBA All-Star with the Indiana Pacers. He was originally drafted by the Orlando Magic with the No. 2 pick in 2013. He's also played with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Oladipo's career was slowed during the 2018-19 when he sustained a season-ending ruptured quad injury. He didn't return to the lineup until more than a year later. Oladipo couldn't come to terms on a long-term deal with the Pacers, so they moved him as part of the Harden trade, and got a nice piece in Caris LaVert.
Houston offered him a two-year, $50-million deal, but he turned it down. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, but the Heat are a team that he wanted to be with anyway, so their chances of signing him to a deal are certainly much better than Houston's chances were.
Bradley is in his first year with the Heat after being acquired last offseason from the Los Angeles Lakers. Olynyk was arguably in the middle of his best year in Miami after averaging 10 points and 6.1 rebounds. He started 38 of 43 games this season.
The positive for the Heat is they were able to keep most of their young talent. Several teams were attempting to package Duncan Robinson, Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro in many deals. The Toronto Raptors reportedly were interested in them in exchange for All-Star guard Kyle Lowry.
Oladipo played three seasons at Indiana for Tom Crean from 2011 to 2013 and was a fan favorite. He came to Bloomington often to watch games when he played with the Pacers.
