Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo could make his return to the NBA court real soon after more than 10 months on the sidelines.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, as Oladipo joins the Heat in their six-game road trip that starts Friday against the New York Knicks, there is an increased possibility he could play as soon as the second week of March.
To recall, the Heat traded for Oladipo during the 2021 trade deadline. The veteran guard, who actually started the season with the Indiana Pacers before being dealt to the Houston Rockets in the James Harden deal, had been bothered by various injuries that derailed his career. He had a quad tendon surgery in 2019, and the same issue forced him to sit out the remainder of the 2020-21 season with Miami.
Oladipo underwent a second quad tendon surgery last May 2021 and has been rehabbing ever since.
By the looks of it, though, it seems he has progressed nicely in his recovery and could be ready soon as he prepares his body for game action.
While Victor Oladipo is not expected to immediately make an impact as he shakes off the rust of nearly a year of absence from playing basketball, he can certainly provide a much-needed boost to a Heat squad raring to get back to the NBA Finals. Jimmy Butler and company have been playing well this season, but they can always use some help in the postseason where depth goes a long way and could spell the difference between a contender and a pretender.
The last time Oladipo played more than 60 games in a season–which was in 2017-18–he averaged 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game. In the four games he played with the Heat last campaign, he put up 12.0 points and 1.8 steals.