NBA free agency officially began at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, and a host of players are already off the market. Victor Oladipo isn’t one of them, though, and he took to X on Wednesday to send a message to NBA teams.
“I’m a free agent,” Oladipo wrote. “I don’t have an agent right now just me and my family. I know I have a lot left, and I genuinely love this game. I’d rather show you I’m ready than spend my time trying to explain why or flood you with analytics to prove it.
“If you’re about winning, value mentorship, and think there could be a fit, you can reach me directly,” Oladipo continued. “I’m open to every opportunity right now—I just want to make sure I weigh each one carefully. I can’t wait to share my story.”
Oladipo last played in the NBA back in 2023 with the Miami Heat. He tore his left patellar tendon in the Heat’s 121-99 Game 3 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs, and you wondered at that point if his career was over, with all the injuries he had suffered.
Oladipo had ruptured his right quadriceps tendon in January 2019, and the injury was so serious that he wouldn’t play in another NBA game for over a year. He then needed season-ending surgery on that tendon in May 2021 and was out of action for almost a year.
This would have been bad enough, but then came that injury in 2023. Oladipo was traded multiple times as he rehabbed, and he was left without a team after the Memphis Grizzlies waived him in February 2024.
It would have been easy to throw in the towel at that point, but Oladipo wasn’t giving up. It actually looked like he would get another chance in the league in 2025, too. According to ESPN, Oladipo was part of a private workout in Las Vegas in July, which was attended by personnel from many NBA teams. He impressed in that workout, but no opportunity seemed to come his way.
Oladipo eventually joined the G League’s Wisconsin Herd in November 2025. The 34-year-old averaged 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.1 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game for the Herd in 2025-26, before he was traded to the Cleveland Charge in February 2026. He never played for the Charge, though.
At this point, it’s hard to see a way back for Oladipo. It’s a real shame how his career has panned out.
The Orlando Magic had selected Oladipo with the No. 2 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. He’d enjoy some solid seasons with the Magic, after which he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016.
Oladipo was on the move again a year later, as the Thunder sent him to the Indiana Pacers in 2017, and that was when we’d see the best of him. He was named an All-Star, made the All-NBA Third Team, and won Most Improved Player in 2018.
Oladipo was named an All-Star again in 2019, but then the injury bug struck. We’ll unfortunately never know the heights he could have hit.
