Victor Oladipo exercises $9.5 million player option
Oladipo played 42 games last year, averaging 10.7 points and 3.5 assists.
Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo opted into his $9.5 million player option Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Oladipo had until Thursday, June 29 — one day ahead of free agency, which begins June 30 at 6 p.m. EST — to pick up or decline the option. It is the last possible day for teams to decide on player- and team-options ahead of the new league year.
He was the only Heat player with an option for the 2023-24 season—though Miami has until July 15 to fully guarantee Haywood Highsmith’s $1.9 million deal.
Heat have 10 players on their roster—including Oladipo and Miami’s first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr., who’s expected to make $3.5 million as a rookie. If so, they will have $176.6 million on their books, $4.6 million above the first tax apron and about $5.9 below the second apron.
While these scenarios would be grimmer, the Heat can still hypothetically 1.) trade Oladipo as a salary filler or 2.) waive and stretch him for $3.15 million over the next three years.
Oladipo is expected to miss most of the 2023-24 season after tearing his patellar tendon in Game 3 of Miami’s first-round series against Milwaukee. After missing the team’s first 24 games with a lower-body injury, Oladipo played 42 games, averaging 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals on 39.7 percent shooting, including 33.3 percent from deep and 74.7 percent from the charity stripe — equaling a 51.3 true-shooting percentage.
In two-and-a-half (practically two) seasons with Miami, Oladipo’s posted a 11-3-4-1 stat line on 40.7/33.6/73.3 shooting splits.
If Oladipo is able to return in time for the end of the regular season or the playoffs, we know how impactful he can be on the defensive end at the point-of-attack against other guards. Unfortunately, his time with the Heat has been plagued by injury—though if one player can overcome it, it’s Oladipo.
This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.
Really sad for this dude with all those injuries. But happy in a way our team gave Dipo a chance. Hope he can play again after recovery. Maybe not for the Heat anymore.
Send him and dunc to indy for theis, nwora and a pick. They can take the cap hit and they have 2 playable guards and waaay too many bigs