It has been a volatile period for the Houston Rockets. First, Russell Westbrook was traded for John Wall, then James Harden was sent to the Brooklyn Nets in part of a four-team blockbuster NBA trade. Could Victor Oladipo be on the move again?
According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, the Rockets could potentially trade Victor Oladipo and PJ Tucker ahead of the NBA trade deadline. Both players could be among the most intriguing of an otherwise potentially underwhelming trade market.
“The Houston Rockets could potentially move Oladipo again, as well as forward PJ Tucker, who also is on an expiring contract.”
The Rockets will need to determine if they want to risk entering the offseason with Victor Oladipo not signed to a long-term contract. He hasn’t necessarily played at the level one would have liked — making it difficult to envision that risk being all that worthwhile.
Since being traded to the Rockets, Oladipo has averaged 20.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. While that looks good on paper, he’s converting at just a 39.6% from the field and has gone just 31.1% from beyond the arc.
There is still noticeable limitations from Victor Oladipo in his impact. He isn’t exploding to the rim like he used to and his pull-up jump shots has sorely regressed from when he put together his career-best season with the Indiana Pacers in 2017-18.
The New York Knicks appear to be a potential ‘buy-low’ candidate that could make a play for Oladipo. They have a combination of salary cap space, draft assets, and expiring deals to be able to offer the Rockets in the event they were to engage in trade talks.
The Miami Heat are another team that could look to get involved in a potential Oladipo trade. They clearly need to shake things up to get a spark going after a terrible start to the season. Could another shot creator be the way to go? He may not be back to pre-injury form, but that’s just part of the risk involved.
It remains to be seen whether the Miami Heat or New York Knicks will end up being the team to make a move for Victor Oladipo, or if a different team could look to get involved. What’s clear though, the Houston Rockets will be unable to compete this season and moving him at the NBA trade deadline makes sense.
