MIAMI — With a Thursday deadline to opt into the $9.5 million second and final season on the two-year contract he signed with the team last July, Victor Oladipo largely stands as little more than a ledger entry for the Miami Heat when it comes to the impending NBA personnel period.
Expected to be sidelined well into the coming season by the knee injury sustained during the opening round of the playoffs, Oladipo lost any free-agency leverage with the torn left patellar tendon sustained April 22 against the Milwaukee Bucks, finishing the postseason on crutches following April 27 surgery.
Once Oladipo, 31, formally opts in, it makes him trade eligible, his contract then available to potentially utilize to balance a trade under the salary cap.
