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The Miami Heat have agreed a trade to acquire Victor Oladipo from the Houston Rockets.
Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news, effectively ending the Heat’s interest in Kyle Lowry. Lowry remains in Toronto.
Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk are heading to the Houston Rockets. Miami is also including a draft swap in the deal.
This is a markedly lower price than Lowry would have been. Oladipo’s desire to land in Miami has been public knowledge for a long time, and he’s finally got what he wanted. This could take the former Pacer off the free agency board too, given the Heat’s spare cap space and his desperation to get to south beach.
Nemanja Bjelica arriving from the Kings was a precursor to this deal. It made it easier to trade Olynyk. While that appeared to be opening up a Lowry trade, it worked out that Oladipo was the more attainable, and possibly better value, player.
Which Oladipo did the Heat trade for?
Some Heat fans will view this as a dream scenario. It all depends on what level Oladipo can play at on a consistent basis, because the All-NBA season is a major injury and several years away. Oladipo might never hit that level again.
His efficiency and defense has been up and down since his return, and the Heat will hope he can find a level of consistency alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
In an ideal scenario, Oladipo can join Butler, Goran Dragic and Adebayo in the closing line-up. Erik Spoelstra can fill in the fifth spot with one of Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Andre Iguodala or Trevor Ariza. That line-up has a very high two-way ceiling.
Oladipo was always going to be an option for Miami. His public willingness to head to Florida in free agency may have put off other trade suitors. It’s easy to feel underwhelmed by this after missing out on Lowry, but this is a high-upside move for the Heat.
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