Victor Oladipo has been seeking one last opportunity for months, and for the first time it appears someone is listening. The Miami Heat are closely monitoring his comeback process and have allowed him to train at the Kaseya Center, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. There is no open negotiation, but a door has been left ajar.
2025-26 Season Numbers
The shooting guard has not played in the NBA since the 2022-23 season, but he has competed. Last season he appeared in 15 games with the Wisconsin Herd, the Milwaukee Bucks' G League affiliate, averaging 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 29.7 minutes, shooting 38.3 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from three.
Before that, in the fall of 2025, he had played in the Chinese league with the Guangzhou Loong Lions and even appeared in some NBA preseason games, scoring over twenty points in two of three contests without that translating into a contract.
The shooting percentages are the uncomfortable part of the story. Thirteen points in the G League at age 34 and shooting under 40 percent from the field is not the profile of someone who will get rotation minutes, and that is why he has gone three summers without finding a team.
The Career That Was
Because the name carries weight. Oladipo was selected with the 2nd pick in the 2013 Draft, is a two-time All-Star (2018 and 2019), First-Team All-Defense in 2018 and Most Improved Player that same year. In ten seasons in the league he averaged 16.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals in 504 games, with five consecutive seasons above fifteen points between 2014 and 2019.
Then came the injuries. A quadriceps tear in 2019 robbed him of his best form, and a torn patellar tendon in his left knee in 2023 sidelined him for good. He was also injured in a playoff game with the Heat precisely against the Bucks, the franchise whose affiliate would eventually take him in two years later.
Miami, the Final Piece and Competition
The interest makes double sense. Oladipo played three seasons in Miami, between 2021 and 2023, and the franchise knows him well. Additionally, the Heat have an open roster spot and are seeking a veteran point guard-shooting guard to provide depth at a position where, beyond Davion Mitchell, they are thin.
That spot exists thanks to a previous move: Klay Thompson's salary reduction, who accepted 5.6 million and allowed Miami to stay below their threshold and sign another player to the minimum. It is the same 15th roster spot that John Konchar and Gabe Vincent, another familiar face to the organization, are also being linked to.
In a summer in which the franchise has traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo and has been filling out the roster with non-guaranteed contracts, Oladipo would fit as a third shooting guard with the hope of earning more playing time. Whether that is possible at age 34, and after three seasons away, is another question.