Getty Big man Bam Adebayo defends Kevin Durant during a game between the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets.
Another day, another round of wild Kevin Durant trade musings — such is the life of the Miami Heat faithful during the summer of 2022. It’s a weird existence considering the team just finished a Jimmy Butler three and a defensive stop shy of an NBA Finals berth.
However, given Miami’s lack of movement this offseason and the growing parity in the Eastern Conference, Heat Nation definitely has reason to wish for a blockbuster.
The word on the street is that team president Pat Riley has designs on making a major move, too, be it for Durant, Donovan Mitchell or some other All-Star baller with the skills to boost the Heat’s ho-hum offenisive attack. Unfortunately, the Godfather looks to be short on the assets needed to make such a deal happen.
Moreover, there’s a level of reluctance among some — or, at the very least, one — in the organization to include one of the Heat’s cornerstone pieces in potential trades.
Insider: Adebayo is Off the Table
The Sun Sentinel‘s Ira Winderman explored various Heat trade scenarios in a Friday feature, including the big Durant play. Alas, the Heat insider opined that getting KD to South Beach would likely require the involvement of a third team to get the Brooklyn Nets the return they seek for the future HOFer.
Winderman further revealed that at least one of the team’s higher-ups had taken issue with the idea of including star big man Bam Adebayo to get a deal done.
“A party familiar with the Heat’s approach told the Sun Sentinel that while there has been internal consideration of the team utilizing center Bam Adebayo as a trade component, at least one influential member of the organization has shot down the notion,” wrote Winderman.
Even if members of the Heat brain trust were in lockstep about including Adebayo in a trade, though, there’s a major issue in play where moving the pivot to the Nets is concerned.
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Adebayo Can’t Currently Be Rostered by the Nets
As much as the Nets would probably love to have a young center like Adebayo rim-running and captaining their defense, league rules actually preclude him from joining them at this juncture.
The 25-year-old was retained by Miami in 2020 by way of the designated rookie extension. And per the current collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players, teams are allowed only allowed to trade for one such player/contract.
So, in order for Adebayo to make the move to Brooklyn, the Nets would have to find a taker for former No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons, who was signed to the designated rookie extension by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019 before getting moved in the James Harden deal.
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