Rockets: 3 reasons why the Oladipo trade isn’t as bad as it seems

Oladipo had 1 year left on his contract and it just did not make sense for teams to shell out talent for a possible rental.

It was a hectic day on Thursday where NBA fans awaited on their phones for a “breaking news” tweet from either Adrian Wojnarowski or Shams Charania. The NBA trade deadline did not disappoint as some big faces that were rumored to be on the trade block ended up on a different team for this season. A couple of those players were Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic, and the Houston Rockets very own, Victor Oladipo.

Many fans were heavily disappointed with the Houston Rockets’ transactions, or lack thereof I should say. With the team rumored to have been exploring many different trade outlets that could have netted them a young player or draft assets, they instead came up with a last minute return package from the Miami Heat for Oladipo.

3 reasons why the Victor Oladipo trade is good for the Houston Rockets

After being part of a 4-team trade earlier this season when the Houston Rockets dealt James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets, Oladipo found himself in a new city seeking a new beginning after suffering a ruptured quad tendon with the Indiana Pacers in January 2019. Oladipo was the preferred trade target for the Houston Rockets over Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen of the Brooklyn Nets, who were sent to the Pacers and Cavaliers respectively.

On the NBA Trade deadline, the Houston Rockets sent Oladipo in an exchange for Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk and 2022 first-round swap rights, which will include Brooklyn’s pick. To put a damper on an already bleak situation, that pick swap is also lottery protected unfortunately.

While the Houston Rockets fell significantly short of landing talent that aligns with their vision of rebuilding for Oladipo, the reality is that the trade isn’t as bad as it seems. Here are 3 reasons to justify this!

Next: No. 3

3. Oladipo’s trade market was essentially non-existent

When the Rockets made the conscious decision to trade for Oladipo when dealing Harden to the Nets, the front office preferred flexibility over Caris LeVert, who would have been the center of the package outside of the picks and swaps. However, LeVert’s contract length and age did not fit with the team’s flexibility vision.

Oladipo was coming off a significant injury in which prior to this, he had his best season of his career. His two-way potential on both sides of the ball was something that the Houston Rockets needed to pair alongside John Wall and Christian Wood.

Fast forward to March 2021, the Houston Rockets were piling losses and it became quite clear that this team was on track to acquire a top-4 pick in the upcoming draft. This led to Oladipo being mentioned in trade rumor talks.

Much of these rumors were likely being fed from the inside by the Rockets front office to heat up the market ahead of the deadline, however this strategy failed to work for the team. Oladipo had one year left on his contract and it just did not make sense for teams to shell out talent for a possible rental.

On top of this, Oladipo’s play this season likely deterred teams from making a move for him. In his short stint with the Houston Rockets, he sat out on the second night of back-to-back games which made him a a high-risk player to chase.

Also, while Oladipo was averaging the second-highest amount of points per game in a season for his career, it was a rather inefficient year for the guard. On a career high 19.1 field-goal attempts per game, Oladipo was shooting 41 percent on the season.

A 2022 lottery-protected pick swap isn’t something for fans to get excited about, however they have to accept the fact that no team was willing to surrender anything of value in exchange for a one-year rental for a player who was having a sub-par performance this season.

Next: No. 2

2. The Houston Rockets can continue to develop Kevin Porter Jr. this season

Kevin Porter Jr is without a doubt one of the more talented young players the Houston Rockets have on their roster. Ever since being recalled from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers earlier this month, Porter Jr. has impressed in his first couple of games with the team.

In his first 5 games with the team prior to hurting himself, Porter Jr was averaging 19.6 points, 8 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 44 percent from the field. For a sophomore, this is quite impressive.

Given how high the front office was on KPJ when acquiring him from the Cavaliers, the talented young guard is continuing his path towards being a critical component for a rebuild for the Houston Rockets.

Had Oladipo remained on the roster, this would have left KPJ on the bench with the second unit. This could be detrimental to his development with the team.

Now with Oladipo gone, KPJ can play alongside Wall and Wood. Although Wall is the team’s point guard and often has the ball in his hands a lot, KPJ can take this opportunity to learn how to play off the ball.

It would make him a more all-around dynamic talent. In their return package for Oladipo, the Houston Rockets received in addition to the pick swap two players, Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk. While Bradley plays the shooting guard position as well, he will not serve as a threat to KPJ’s development, given that he is a veteran and will most likely not be on this Houston Rockets roster next year.

Next: No. 1

1. The Houston Rockets got worse, which is good!

I understand it is frustrating watching this team play basketball lately. Obviously, the Houston Rockets have dealt with injuries, which have played a role in where they are in the standings.

When the Houston Rockets made the decision to trade Chris Paul to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook in the summer of 2019, part of the agreement was to include 2 first-round picks and 2 pick swaps.

In 2021, the first round pick swap will be protected in the 1-4 range. With this being said, Oladipo being traded is a good thing for the Houston Rockets future.

The regression will maximize their chances of remaining in the bottom-three standings, which share an equal probability of landing the number one pick (14 percent) and a top-4 pick (52.1 percent). While the regression is evident, the trade does have an added risk for the Houston Rockets. Miami is currently 22-23, which is good for seventh in the standings in the Eastern Conference.

Trading Oladipo there makes them theoretically better, and if the pick swap does convey for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Houston Rockets face the possibility of selecting a much lower pick in the first round given the probability of Miami improving in the standings is quite significant. Oladipo will fit well with the Heat given his skill set and the team’s culture are a good match.

Tyler Herro has played significant point guard minutes for the team this season. This allows Oladipo to be inserted in the shooting guard spot and the other remaining spots in the starting lineup will likely remain the same.

In conclusion, the Oladipo trade isn’t as bad as what many Houston Rockets fans are making it seem like. The bigger picture of Houston continuing to regress should be prioritized as opposed to adding talent.

Rafael Stone might be in his first year as a general manager for the Houston Rockets, but this hasn’t stopped him from preparing for life after James Harden.