Bam Adebayo is reportedly drawing interest from around the NBA. The Miami Heat star has struggled to figure out how to fit next to Giannis Antetokounmpo to begin the new NBA season.
As such, there’s a chance that Miami could explore potential trade packages involving Adebayo, should a return provide legitimate upside for the franchise. According to The Ringer’s Howard Beck, Adebayo is one of three players teams are currently keeping tabs on.
“Nikola Jokic sounds a little testy,” Beck wrote. “Bam Adebayo sounds a little aggravated. And Devin Booker? He just seems like a guy whose talent is being wasted. Is it comically premature to speculate about their futures? By most reasonable standards, yes. But the NBA does not abide by the laws of reasonability”
Beck continued by sharing a comment from an anonymous NBA executive.
“I never thought those two were going to fit together,” said the second exec. “I just don’t know how you run an offense with two power forwards. Neither one of them can shoot and operate in the same space.”
The problem for the Heat is that they have very few tradable assets after acquiring Giannis. Therefore, any move to legitimately upgrade the roster would likely come at Adebayo’s expense.
Of course, we’re too early in the season to be making any assumptions. After all, the Heat could figure things out and go on a winning streak, and then any chatter of trading Adebayo would fade away.
Heat Should Panic Over Giannis And Bam Fit
According to long-time NBA analyst Bill Simmons, Miami’s fanbase should be concerned about what they’ve seen from the Heat’s star duo.
“If I’m a Heat fan I’m panicking now,” Simmons said in a recent episode of ‘The Bill Simmons Podcast.’ “They got their a** kicked by the Lakers last night — I didn’t expect the defense to be this bad…they’re 27th in defensive rating…that’s rough. The Klay thing didn’t work out and there’s a reason why 2 teams were ready to move on from him, the Jovic extension seems like a mini-catastrophe…I don’t understand why they’re this bad on defense.”
Giannis wants to win championships. Moving to the Heat was supposed to help him achieve that goal. Therefore, it’s fair to assume that he’s already growing frustrated with the situation in Miami.
Giannis Could Leave Heat This Summer
Giannis has two years remaining on his current $58.4 million contract. However, the final year of that contract is a player option. As such, he could opt out this summer and explore unrestricted free agency.
At 31 years old, Giannis is unlikely to wait around for the Heat to construct a contending-level roster. As such, trading Addebayo might be Pat Riley’s best chance of keeping the Heat’s new star long-term.
Otherwise, Miami mortgaged their future for a one-year rental of Giannis, despite being nowhere near ready to give him the roster he needed to push for a second NBA championship. Of course, that would be the worst-case scenario.
Heat’s Bam Adebayo Thrust Into Trade Speculation As Giannis Fit Falters