Three major injuries! Can 33-year-old Oladipo return to the NBA?

A interesting news.

Report from ESPN reporter Jeremy Woo, free agent Victor Oladipo is seeking to return to the NBA, and he has recently impressed the teams in the trial. Sources revealed that the 33-year-old two-time All-Star participated in a highly anticipated private trial this week, with representatives from multiple NBA and European teams presenting to watch.

In a 5V5 full-game training game for international professionals, Oladipo performed well. The team sources at the court said they were impressed, saying that he was in excellent physical condition and was working hard to return to the NBA.

Then the question is: Do you remember when Oladipo last played in the NBA?

The answer is the 2022-23 season. In that season, Oladipo played 42 regular season games with the Heat and averaged 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Everyone should remember that the Heat this year were first in the playoffs, and then they reached the finals all the way, and their performance was amazing.

However, the Heat's Black Eight Finals trip has nothing to do with Oladipo. In the first round, he suffered a tear of patellar tendon on his left knee and was reimbursed for the season.

During this offseason, Oladipo experienced three transactions, first from the Heat to the Rockets, then from the Rockets to the Thunder, and then from the Thunder to the Grizzlies. He was finally cut by the Grizzlies in February 2024. Since he was cut, he has not found a job for nearly a year and a half.

How much oil does Oladipo still have now? It's hard to say, but looking back at Oladipo's past few years of career, it's really too memorable.

Time returned to the 2017-18 season. In this year, Oladipo transferred from the Thunder to the Pacers, and then played at the peak of his career at the Pacers:

played 75 games, averaging 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game. Not only did he lead the Pacers into the playoffs, he also won the All-Stars + Best Lineup + Best Defensive Team + Fastest Progressive Player + Stealing King.

At that time, it was generally believed that Oladipo would become the Pacers' next star. He was both offensive and defensive, and at the peak of his 26-year-old, this former second-tier show seemed to have finally found his ideal self in Indiana.

However, the good times did not last long. In the 2018-19 season, the second year after joining the Pacers, Oladipo encountered a tear of his right knee tendon that changed his career trajectory.

This injury directly brought Oladipo from the "altar". After returning from the 2019-20 season, Oladipo was in very bad shape, averaging only 14.5 points per game, shooting percentage of 39.4%, and three-point shooting percentage of 31.7%.

At the same time, Sabonis Jr. made great progress and began to replace Oladipo's core position. So in the 2020-21 season, before Oladipo's contract renewal arrived, the Pacers sent him to the Rockets, and in the same season, the Rockets sent him to the Heat.

This happened during this period. In his 20 games for the Rockets, Oladipo averaged 21.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game, and his condition improved.

At this time, the Rockets happened to have entered the reconstruction period because Harden left the team, so they offered a four-year, 80 million contract renewal for him in the contract year. However, Audi thought he chose to refuse, and he thought he was worth more, and then the Rockets and Heat trade occurred.

Oladipo's idea is objectively understandable, but he miscalculated his strength and still did not let him go after his injury.

After playing 4 games for the Heat, Oladipo suffered a knee injury again and had to undergo right quadriceps tendon surgery, which was reimbursed again for the season.

Contract year, season reimbursement, past injury history, so in the offseason in 2022, Oladipo, who became a free agent, only received the basic salary given by the Heat. In the 2021-22 season, Oladipo, who received a basic salary, performed better than his value at the Heat.

Although he only played 8 games in the regular season, Oladipo played 15 games in the playoffs, averaging 24.5 minutes per game, and he scored 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals, and helped the Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals.

After the end of this year, Oladipo received a two-year, 18 million contract renewal from the Heat, which is also the last contract for Oladipo's career so far. Then, the 2022-23 season was as mentioned at the beginning. Oladipo's performance was still good, but he suffered another injury.

Summary: After 2018, Oladipo experienced three major injuries and was traded 5 times. During this period, he briefly recovered his star level, but refused to renew his contract for 4 years and 80 million yuan - this incident may become a pain for Audi's life.

As for the future, to be honest, after three major injuries, it has become very difficult for Oladipo to return to the NBA, not to mention that he has not played for two years and is 33 years old. However, it is not ruled out that a team will give him a basic salary contract. I hope we can see Kumaba again on the court next season.