A post from Miami Heat star big man Bam Adebayo on X (formerly Twitter) may cause some folks to open their eyes to trade buzz connecting Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell to Miami.
https://t.co/9yqj6kEDCB pic.twitter.com/nsYp2WuBmX
— 13am Adebayo💥 (@Bam1of1) May 24, 2024
A recent report detailed what a potential Mitchell trade between the Cavs and Heat might look like.
“[Cavs owner Dan] Gilbert and Koby Altman would look for a lucrative package of multiple draft picks and one or two young players with star potential in a Mitchell trade,” wrote Ashish Mathur of Hoops Wire.
“For example, a source told Hoops Wire that the Cavaliers would ask for Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. from the Heat in Mitchell trade talks if it gets to that point.”
The Heat seemingly could benefit from making some changes to their roster in the offseason after how the 2023-24 campaign played out.
Miami finished the regular season with a 46-36 record and the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference after beating the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament.
After the Heat’s unspectacular play during the regular season, they were bested by the Boston Celtics — who finished with a league-best 64-18 record — in the opening round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier were sidelined for the entire series. The Heat lost in five games, and every one of Miami’s four losses to Boston came by 14 points or more.
Miami was particularly embarrassed in Game 5, considering the Heat lost by a whopping 34 points at TD Garden.
There weren’t many positive takeaways from Miami’s short time in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, but one of them was the play of Adebayo. He was arguably the Heat’s best and most consistent player against Boston, as he averaged 22.6 points per game on 49.5 percent shooting from the field along with 9.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
After taking care of business against Adebayo and the Heat, the Celtics then sent home Mitchell’s Cavaliers in five games in the following round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Mitchell played in only three of the five games against Boston but averaged 31.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per contest on 51.5 percent accuracy from the floor during the series.
While Heat fans shouldn’t overreact to a social media post that was perhaps made in jest by Adebayo, they also should expect to continue to see the team connected to Mitchell in trade rumors.
