The Top-5 Houston Rockets based on their trade value

Houston Rockets Trade Value #2: Victor Oladipo

Of all the players on the Rockets, Victor Oladipo’s trade value is most difficult to gauge. He was an All-NBA and All-Defensive First team selection in 2017-18 but suffered a serious quad tendon injury in 2018-19.

In his first games back from injury in 2019-20 he looked sluggish and performed poorly but to start the 2020-21 season he looked to have regained most of his form. However, since being traded to the Rockets from the Indiana Pacers his shooting has fallen off a cliff.

Oladipo has only played 11 games for the Rockets so his poor shooting is in the small sample size category and wouldn’t scare off many suitors. His passing numbers are near a career-best and even with his poor shooting, he has still been able to average 18.4 points a game for the Rockets.

When Oladipo is right he’s an effective isolation scorer that can be a team’s secondary playmaker who also plays lights out defense. In short order, Oladipo is a really good player that dramatically alters a team’s ceiling.

If Oladipo were under contract for multiple seasons he’d easily fetch a return of at least two first-round picks but because he is an expiring contract the Rockets won’t get more than two firsts for him or a package of similar value. The number of teams that would be interested in Oladipo, and could afford him, is small.

The teams who should be the most interested in him are championship teams with a fast closing window. In the end, Oladipo’s trade value makes him a hard player to move.

He is valuable but only to a certain subset of teams that usually don’t have the assets to pull off a move for him. A team like the Celtics, theoretically, should be interested in him but they already have a crowded backcourt.

The Rockets, if they do decide to shop him, will have a difficult time finding a suitable offer. If Oladipo doesn’t get traded it’ll likely be because the teams that are interested in him simply don’t have enough ammunition to pull the trigger on a deal.

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