Victor Oladipo Will Reportedly Make His Season Debut For The Miami Heat On Monday

Late in the season, the top-seeded Miami Heat are adding a potentially interesting reinforcement.

As reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Victor Oladipo will make his season debut for the Heat on Monday when Miami plays the Houston Rockets. Oladipo has not played this season after he had surgery on his right quadriceps tendon last May.

Oladipo was acquired by the Heat last season in a deal with the Rockets, but has only played four games for the team as he’s dealt with that quadriceps injury. He originally suffered the injury when he was with the Indiana Pacers back in 2019.

What Oladipo will look like and provide the Heat is a complete unknown. His injury was serious and he’s never gotten back to the All-Star level he was for a stretch with the Pacers. It doesn’t feel like a certainty that he comes in and is more helpful to the Heat right now than their other bench guards like Max Strus or Caleb Martin, who have stepped up in big ways for a Miami team that’s seen a number of key players in and out of the lineup this season but have stayed steady throughout.

That said, adding Oladipo is interesting if he looks good when he returns. If Oladipo can come in, play effective defense while providing some secondary ball handling and shooting, that could be a useful player for a Heat team currently at the top of the Eastern Conference. One of the areas that Miami is lacking is in shot creation, and Oladipo bringing that, even if just in short bursts, could be helpful. Whether that happens or not will be worth watching in the month or so before the playoffs begin.

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