Getty Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat reacts against the Boston Celtics during the third quarter in Game Seven of the 2022 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals
The Miami Heat have had a constant whirlwind of rumors swirling around them about adding a star since before they were even eliminated from the playoffs. After Miami’s game 5 loss, rival superstar Joel Embiid pointed out the Heat’s need for a superstar via Twitter by simply sharing, “Miami needs another Star.” That invited trade speculation almost immediately, and Embiid isn’t the only one that has been considered in Miami. Since then, they have been in the running for both Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell.
No trades proposals have had any real momentum yet for the Heat, and recently Bam Adebayo, who has found himself attached in some of the trade rumors spoke about the status of the team moving forward.
Bam Adebayo on Next Year’s Heat Team
While Adebayo has been mentioned in some of the trade proposals, he seems to have confidence he will remain in South Beach next season and recently sat down with 790 The Ticket at Summer League and shared expectations moving forward.
“It’s just good to have a feeling like we can run it back and do something different this year,” he said, “having Caleb back, having Dewayne, having Victor, guys who know our system, and then just everybody falling in line.”
Adebayo isn’t the only one that has talked about the Heat running it back with their Eastern Conference Finals squad from last season. Eric Spoelstra also did in his exit interview following their playoff elimination.
“Look at the history of how we’ve done things since Pat and Micky have created this culture,” Spoelstra said, as reported by Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman. “Anytime we’re close and have banged on the door, even if it ended in a disappointing loss, our history has shown that we usually bring the majority of the group back, the core back, and we take another shot at it.”
The Heat do certainly have the makeup to run it back. They do need more scoring to take some of the pressure off of Jimmy Butler, though. Adebayo also shared how he may be able to help relieve Butler offensively by sharing some of the Heat’s goals for him this offseason.
“I feel like my shot attempts are going to go up,” he said. “The guys want the ball in my hands. They want me to score more. So, my job is really easy.”
Adebayo could definitely do more offensively for the Heat. He often looks afraid to initiate on the offensive side of the ball, and if he can work on that, it would give the Heat a major boost. The talent is there for Adebayo. He just needs the confidence offensively.
Heat Trade Updates
While there is talk of running it back for Miami next year, the team also remains in trade discussions for Mitchell and Durant. The latest on Mitchell comes from Jazz beat writer Andy Larson who reported that the Utah Jazz have found the Heat’s offers ‘insufficient’ and have asked them to bring a third team into the deal for Mitchell.
“They’ve asked the Heat to engage a third team if they’re interested in Donovan, because they don’t find the packages the Heat can offer sufficient,” Larson tweeted.