Miami Heat: Should the Heat offer Bam Adebayo for Damian Lillard?

Should the Miami Heat be willing to include Bam Adebayo in a potential offer for Damian Lillard?

The Miami Heat are coming off quite a disappointing season. After making the NBA Finals in the restart bubble last year, the Heat failed to make it out of the first round in the playoffs this season. In fact, they failed to win a single game in the postseason as they were swept out of the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Heading into the offseason, there are some big decisions that need to be made for the Heat. Especially if they want to close the gap between them and the rest of the Eastern Conference contenders.

Miami needs to figure out a way how to improve the top-level of this roster and, perhaps more than anything, the Heat needs to find a primary scoring option and a top-level point guard heading into the offseason.

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One potential player that nearly every team in the NBA seems to be monitoring (subscription required) heading into the offseason is Damian Lillard, who may or may not ask for an out (or trade) this offseason. Lillard has not shown any signs of asking out of Portland but the team could be heading toward a crossroad as the Blazers once again were subject to an early playoff exit.

While there seem to be plenty of hurdles that have to be crossed for Lillard to even be available and for the Blazers to shop him, there’s one big question that could determine whether the Heat even have a shot to acquire him (should he become available).

Should Bam Adebayo be in play if it means adding Damian Lillard?

And that revolves around whether or not Miami would be willing to include Bam Adebayo in a potential package for Lillard.

This is absolutely a difficult question and something that should and likely has already been discussed between the front office. Even though Pat Riley included Bam as part of the Heat’s nucleus, I can’t help but look at the missed opportunity that the Heat had when James Harden was traded earlier this year.

Pat Riley says, "I like the nucleus of our team. We have a great core with Jimmy and Bam. No matter how they performed in the playoffs, we didn't make a mistake with those guys, that's for sure."@5ReasonsSports
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) June 3, 2021

In retrospect, it’s pretty easy to say that the Heat made a big mistake by not going all-in on Harden. Especially considering that he was dealt to the Nets, which absolutely took them over the top in the East.

Would the Heat be willing to make this mistake again, assuming Lillard becomes available on the trade market this offseason?

Here’s why including Bam in a potential package is something Miami would have to seriously consider if they want to even have a shot at acquiring Lillard: they don’t have the draft assets that other teams in pursuit of Lillard would have.

"[via Miami Herald]Not only does Miami not have a pick in the July 29 NBA Draft, but the Heat currently has only one pick that’s eligible to be traded in the next seven drafts — a 2024 second-rounder."

The Heat could utilize pick swaps, but those don’t hold much value in comparison to rights to an actual first-round pick. Including Bam in a potential package is likely the one thing that the Heat could do to close the window between competitive packages.

Bam is an extremely talented young big, a budding star, locked in for the foreseeable future, and would be a great piece to building a new competitive team in Portland. If the Blazers would want to stay competitive, that would be an ideal return for Lillard.

Maybe this all becomes moot and Lillard never asks out of Portland, but it’s something that the Heat, internally, must discuss. Just how off-limits is Bam truly?