The Miami Heat announced that Victor Oladipo is done for the season and will undergo surgery to repair a ruptured right quadriceps tendon.
The Miami Heat and Pat Riley knew they were rolling the dice when they acquired Oladipo in a trade with the Houston Rockets due to a previous injury. In 2019, Oladipo ruptured his right quad while playing for the Indiana Pacers.
Oladipo lasted only four games with the Heat before he injured his right quad against the Los Angeles Lakers in a game on April 8. He sat out for a month hoping that the quad would heal. However, the Heat and Oladipo determined that surgery is the best option. Oladipo will miss the postseason, and it’s unknown how much time he’ll miss next season.
Oladipo, a two-time All-Star with the Pacers, has a career average of 17.5 ppg. Since Oladipo initially ruptured his quad in 2019, he appeared in only 52 regular-season games.
Oladipo traded twice since January
Oladipo, 29, played with three teams this season and was traded twice. He averaged 19.8 ppg in 33 total games with the Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets, and the Miami Heat.
Oladipo began the season with the Pacers but appeared in only nine games before they packaged him in the James Harden, four-team mega-trade with the Brooklyn Nets. The Pacers sent Oladipo to the Houston Rockets in their leg of the blockbuster trade.
Oladipo turned down a $45 million contract extension with the Rockets, so they traded him. He appeared in 20 games with the Rockets before the Miami Heat acquired him shortly before the trade deadline in exchange for Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk. In addition, the Rockets and Heat swapped 2022 first-round picks.
“I haven’t played a lot of basketball in two years,” Oladipo told the Miami Herald after his trade to the Heat. “Coming back from injury, I played 19 games and then COVID hit. I couldn’t even use the gym. I was working out in my garage and played in the bubble for eight games and four playoff games, and then this season started right away.”
In four games with the Heat, Oladipo only averaged 12 points per game before he suffered the quad injury that derailed his season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAM3EttFu3g
Next man up: Duncan, Herro, and Nunn
The Heat knew they needed a consistent second scorer if they wanted to return to the NBA Finals this season. They eyed John Wall before opting for Oladipo.
The onus is now on the Heat’s guards to provide additional scoring prowess. Point guard Jimmy Butler (21.5 ppg) and big man Bam Adebayo (18.9 ppg) are the Heat’s top two scorers. Erik Spoelstra will rely on Tyler Herro (15.3 ppg), Kendrick Nunn (14.3 ppg), and Duncan Robinson (13.2 ppg) to provide a scoring boost in the postseason.
Herro had a couple of breakout postseason games last year as a rookie. Duncan was the Heat’s main perimeter threat, shooting 41% from 3-point land, but he was streaky and was prone to long stretches of inactivity in last year’s playoffs.
Miami Heat postseason betting
The Heat (39-31) are jockeying for playoff seeding with the New York Knicks (39-41) and Atlanta Hawks (40-31). They have two games remaining and currently occupy the #5 seed, while the Knicks sit in the #6 seed. If the playoffs were to begin today, the Heat would square off against the Atlanta Hawks, who hold down the #4 seed.
The Heat were the big surprise of the 2020 NBA Playoffs thanks to Jimmy Butler, who took the Heat all the way to the NBA Finals. They won the Eastern Conference, but lost to LeBron James and the LA Lakers in the NBA Finals.
According to a recent update by the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, the Heat are +4000 odds to win the 2021 NBA Finals. Over at DraftKings, you can bet the Heat at +1400 odds to win the Eastern Conference on their NBA futures board.
