Houston Rockets: Grading the Victor Oladipo trade

It has been reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic that the Houston Rockets and the Miami Heat have agreed to a deal that will send Victor Oladipo to Miami in exchange for Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, and a draft swap. The Victor Oladipo trade has been a slow-moving catastrophe from the moment he arrived in Houston.

The Rockets acquired Oladipo as a part of the James Harden trade when they rerouted Caris LeVert from the Brooklyn Nets to the Indiana Pacers in order to land him. Oladipo’s tenure in Houston was always clouded by trade speculation and those suspicions finally bore rotten fruit today.

Houston Rockets: Victor Oladipo’s trade value had tanked

The Rockets’ return for Oladipo was much lighter than anticipated and much less than what it cost to land him. In his nine games with the Pacers this season, Oladipo’s production showed a player who was regaining his All-Star form as he posted 20 points per game on 42.1-percent shooting from the floor and 36.2-percent from 3-point range.

However, his time in Houston saw his efficiency drop off a cliff as his shooting percentage slipped to 40.7-percent and his 3-point shooting dropped to 32-percent. His scoring average actually improved to 21.2 points per game, but when a player is shooting that poorly, more is actually less.

Over 20 games, Oladipo was able to take his trade value from somewhere in the range of at least a first-round pick to essentially salary filler in return. The Rockets, if given a do-over, would almost certainly have taken LeVert over Oladipo.

Houston Rockets: Grading the Victor Oladipo trade

The Rockets didn’t get fleeced in their trade of Victor Oladipo, they just had to deal with the fall out of their past mistakes. Oladipo didn’t have a real market and they went out and got the only deal done they could.

All things being considered, the Rockets landed a pick swap and Avery Bradley, who could have some future trade value as he has a team option at $5.9 million for 2021-22. Kelly Olynyk is on an expiring deal and was only a part of the deal for salary cap purposes.

It’s unlikely Olynyk be bought out but it remains a possibility. The year the pick swap will be conveyed hasn’t yet been reported, but the Heat can offer a swap for their 2022 or 2027 first-round picks.

The Heat project to be a strong team in 2022 so it could be beneficial to have a swap set for 2027 but either way it is a light return. The Rockets did the right thing and moved Oladipo before the clock struck 3 P.M. Eastern time, but this deal is a massive disappointment considering they could have gotten so much more.

Victor Oladipo trade grade: D