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The Miami Heat traded Victor Oladipo to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. The Heat also sent over draft compensation to the Thunder in exchange for absorbing his contract, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Oladipo, 31, exercised his $9.45 million player option Tuesday and will be on an expiring contract. He will likely miss a big portion of next season after tearing his patellar tendon during the Heat’s first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks in April.
Miami created a $9.45 million trade exception with the deal, which it can use to bring in more reinforcements through free agency.
Once one of the promising young talents in the entire NBA, being named to the NBA All-Star Game, NBA All-Defensive First Team and All-NBA Third Team in 2017-18 while with the Indiana Pacers, Oladipo has had an extremely unfortunate injury history over the past few years.
Including the recent patellar tear, he has now undergone a third major knee surgery in the last four years. The hope is that he’ll be able to return to the court at some point in 2024.
He’s played over 40 games just once since that All-Star campaign.
Last season with the Heat he averaged 10.7 points per game to go along with three rebounds and 3.5 assists in 42 games.
If he ends up sticking with the Thunder, which is unclear at the moment, it’ll be his second stint with the organization, having played in Oklahoma City during the 2016-17 season, a very different era for the franchise with Russell Westbrook at the helm.
As for what this can mean for the Heat, it gives them more flexibility to add some decent talent despite being over the cap and in the luxury tax. They may need it considering the departures of Gabe Vincent and likely Max Strus as well.
It could also be freeing up space for a potential Damian Lillard trade as the organization has been viewed as the front runner to acquire the Trail Blazers’ superstar.
