Getty Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo drives past Herb Jones during an exhibition game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Save for PJ Tucker’s change of address and some back-end additions being made, the Miami Heat brought largely the same roster that got them to the Eastern Conference Finals last season into the 2022-23 campaign. However, they’ve hardly looked like a title contender through three games.
In games one and two, the Heat were bested by the Bulls and the Celtics — teams that were both missing key players. They went on to log their first win of the season against the Raptors on Saturday, but also watched a 24-point lead evaporate to almost nothing… and Caleb Martin did this.
While there are a number of things the club needs to clean up in order to get back to where it was before, Victor Oladipo’s continued absence/latest knee issues certainly haven’t helped matters.
During the stretch run of 2021-22, the oft-injured baller emerged as a rotation regular, showing that he still has the ability to provide lockdown D, as well as an offensive spark, and the Heat have been banking on him to keep it rolling this season.
They’re not the only ones who believe he can keep it rolling, either, as Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes just namechecked the two-time All-Star as someone with the power to swing Miami’s season.
B/R: Oladipo Is the Heat’s X-Factor
On Saturday, Hughes dropped his accounting of every team’s biggest X-factor for the ’22-23 season. Oladipo was the pick for the Heat, with Hughes noting that the baller could mitigate one of the team’s major issues.
“If Oladipo can perform like an above-average starter, he’ll solve what was quietly one of Miami’s problem areas last year when Duncan Robinson’s (relatively) cold shooting resulted in Max Strus taking over a starting spot…only to shoot 37.4% from the field in 18 postseason starts.”
In the eight regular-season games that he played, Oladipo averaged 12.4 points, 3/5 assists and just under three rebounds per contest while posting shooting splits of 48/42/74. Meanwhile, the Heat held opponents to just 104.7 points/100 possessions when he was on the court, a mark that would have bested the rest of the rotation regulars had he played more games.
As noted by Hughes, expecting those shooting marks to hold true may be expecting a bit too much, and health will always be a concern. If he can be close to the same level from a scoring efficiency standpoint, though, and keep himself off of the injured list, it would be a major boon for Miami.
Of course, the flip side of that is that Oladipo’s chronic knee issues could send him back into obscurity.
“That uncertainty mixed with the potential upside is exactly what makes Oladipo such a perfect X-factor.”
Celtics Guard Sounds Off on Adebayo’s Screens
Big man Bam Adebayo was the best player on the floor for the Heat during Friday’s loss to the Celtics, scoring 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and adding eight boards, five assists and two steals. Moreover, the Heat actually outscored the Cs by 20 when he was on the floor.
Unfortunately, he was saddled with foul trouble during the third quarter thanks to a pair of illegal screens. It was a tough-luck development for the South Beach Crew but, according to Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon, Adebayo has been on the other side of that equation, too.
“He’s a great screener. Some of them are illegal and don’t get called, but that’s the reality of the game,” Brogdon said, via CLNS Media. “Navigating through them, he’s a big guy that screens well, and they play well through him.”