Oladipo added to boost offense Nabbing star scorer at low cost a big win for Riley
Patience, as a virtue, can be profoundly overrated. Pat Riley has known that well in the 25-plus years he has been one of the best things ever to happen to sports in Miami. And Heat fans have almost always benefited from that lack of patience.
The Heat team president quietly turned 76 a few days ago. Sometimes a man gets to feeling he doesn’t have all the time in the world to sit around crossing fingers on the status quo when there are dominoes to tip, deals to be made. Chances to take.
And so Riley’s Heat was in the mix again Thursday, NBA draft-deadline day, working phones in the midst of a four-game losing streak that saw Miami fall to 22-22 and a tie for fifth
Heat didn’t end up with Kyle Lowry. But the Heat did add a former All-Star to its roster on trade deadline day.
Miami acquired guard Victor Oladipo, a two-time All-Star, in a trade with the Houston Rockets finalized just around the 3 p.m. trade deadline on Thursday, a league source confirmed to the Miami Herald. Miami traded guard Avery Bradley and center Kelly Olynyk to make the salary-cap math work to acquire Oladipo, and agreed
to a 2022 first-round pick swap.
ESPN first reported the deal. The Heat pursued Lowry up until the trade deadline, but Miami’s reluctance to include second-year guard Tyler Herro in offers appeared to be the deal-breaker. Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson, 26, was believed to be at the center of the Heat’s offers for Lowry.
In the end, the Heat was able
to keep its young core intact with Herro, Robinson and rookie Precious Achiuwa remaining in Miami past the trade deadline. And the Raptors held on to Lowry.
The Heat lost its fifth in a row later Thursday, 125-122 to Portland.
Oladipo, 28, has averaged 20.8 points while shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on threes, five reThe
bounds, 4.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 29 games this season. He has averaged 21.2 points on 40.7 percent shooting from the field and 32 percent shooting on threes, 4.8 rebounds and five assists in 20 games with the Rockets since the Indiana Pacers traded him to Houston in January as part of the deal that sent James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets.
Oladipo has long had interest in joining the Heat and spends a lot of his offseason time in Miami. As a talented two-way perimeter threat, he