ASK IRA: Will Heat’s Victor Oladipo be reduced to defensive specialist?

Q: Ira, unfortunately Victor Oladipo’s shooting has been off, but his defense has been stellar. Let’s hope his offense comes back. – Juan, Miami Beach.

A: It is beginning to look more and more as if Victor Oladipo stands largely as a one-way player, with his defensive guile and ability to create steals. While it remains relatively early in his return from preseason knee pain, the offense has not been there. His 1 of 7 from the field in Wednesday night’s victory over the Lakers dropped him to .364 from the field in his 10 games back, including .244 (10 of 41) on 3-pointers. The first step simply has not been there, allowing defenders to play tighter on the perimeter. And when Victor has gone hard to the rim, the control has been lacking. Again, it’s only been 10 games since last season’s playoffs, so rust remains a reality. But counting on Victor at the moment for offense might be misguided.

Q: Keeping Dewayne Dedmon, at his price was questionable, along with trading for Kyle Lowry, re-signing Victor Oladipo and the Duncan Robinson contract. Hopefully they don’t dish out bad contracts to players like Gabe Vincent when the time comes. Preserve cap space. – James.

A: First, with the extensions granted to Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro (which kicks in next season), and with the contracts in palace next season for Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, the cap-space train has left the station. There isn’t cap space to play with. So that means retaining players with whom the Heat have Bird Rights (or early-Bird Rights), such as Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Omer Yurtseven. The Heat basically can afford to pay them more than they can play replacement players (unless there is some sort of massive trade that washes away one of the big contracts).

Q: Once Udonis Haslem’s jersey is retired, wouldn’t it create an awkward situation where all jerseys will have “Hall of Fame” at the bottom except for his? I’m assuming he won’t get in. – Pen.

A: There is nothing awkward about having a jersey retired. And while Udonis Haslem has proven world class as a teammate and community icon, Hall of Famer will be limited to his other pursuits. But make no mistake, No. 40 is going to the rafters, with other tributes from the team likely to follow.