Victor Oladipo will return to the Miami Heat next season. Oladipo’s career has been a bit like a roller coaster over the last few seasons. After his initial trade from Oklahoma City to Indiana, Oladipo took the next step in his career, as he became a superstar for the franchise. Oladipo seemed like the next big thing, as he continued to impress fans and the whole league with his spectacular performances.
But an injury derailed almost all of his remaining momentum. Since then, Oladipo has gone to several teams and now ended up in Miami. Oladipo signed a veteran’s minimum contract with the Miami Heat, but he could have made so much more money.
Before the start of last season, Victor Oladipo was offered a 4 year, $112 million contract extension by the Indiana Pacers. But Oladipo thought that he could turn his fortunes around and leverage more money when his contract expired in 2021. So he turned down the contract extension offered by the Indiana Pacers. As a result, the Pacers gave up Oladipo as part of the James Harden trade. The Pacers got back Caris LeVert, whereas Oladipo went to the Houston Rockets.
The Houston Rockets were clearly a team in rebuild mode last season, as they got rid of James Harden and Russell Westbrook last season. So Oladipo clearly took a step down with the team. The Rockets also wanted to retain Oladipo but were concerned about his injury issues. So they offered him a 2 year, $45.2 million contract extension. But Oladipo rejected this offer too.
In order to not lose Oladipo for free, the Rockets traded him to the Miami Heat in exchange for Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, and a 2022 Draft Pick. Oladipo arrived in Miami, but almost immediately suffered an injury that ruled him out for the rest of the 2020-21 NBA season.
The Miami Heat made big moves during free agency, most notably bringing in veteran point guard Kyle Lowry to a big deal. With very little money left, and Oladipo having almost no options, the two came to an agreement where Oladipo signed the veteran’s minimum contract with the Heat. The deal is for one year, during which Oladipo will hope to impress and recover his form, and then sign a big contract during next year’s free agency period.
It remains to be seen how Oladipo will play next year, but for now, he will be regretting his decision to reject the big contract offers he got from Indiana and Houston. But Oladipo is just one of the many NBA stars that rejected big NBA contracts only to end up regretting their decision to do so. For now, Oladipo will focus on the next season and developing his game in order to revive his career and sign yet another big contract next year.
*Credit for the idea: Reddit user u/Miamiheatfan4life
