Bam Adebayo reveals he didn’t recruit Donovan Mitchell to Miami Heat - Heat Nation
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Bam Adebayo reveals he didn’t recruit Donovan Mitchell to Miami Heat

Donovan Mitchell Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Over the summer, Bam Adebayo played with Donovan Mitchell in the Miami Pro League, and it caused quite a stir.

At the time, the Miami Heat were seen as a possible landing spot for Mitchell, who was with the Utah Jazz. Heat fans certainly wanted to believe that Mitchell was headed to Miami, but in the end, the Cleveland Cavaliers struck a deal with the Jazz for the perennial All-Star.

The way Adebayo sees it, the media blew things out of proportion when he and Mitchell played together over the summer.

“The media saw that and magnified that,” Adebayo said. “To me, it was just playing with one of my best friends.”

Adebayo recently explained that he didn’t even try to recruit Mitchell to the Heat.

“The connection with him wasn’t even trying to recruit,” Adebayo said. “If he wanted to be here, he would have said that. And that’s the bottom line. I respect the fact that he was up front during the process.

“I don’t think the way it happened was in his control, anyway.”

On Tuesday, the Heat will face the Cavs on the road, giving them a chance to see what they missed by falling short in the Mitchell sweepstakes. There have been conflicting reports about how aggressively the Heat pursued Mitchell (if at all), but what’s done is done.

Mitchell has been fantastic for the Cavs this season. He’s averaging 27.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from beyond the arc.

He has certainly helped Cleveland emerge as a threat in the Eastern Conference, though the team has had some questionable losses this season and looked inconsistent since starting the campaign 8-1. Overall, the Cavs are 31-21.

The Heat, meanwhile, are 28-23. They’re directly behind the Cavs in the Eastern Conference standings, so Tuesday’s game is a big opportunity for Miami. As things stand now, 2.5 games separate the squads.

Many Heat fans have definitely grown frustrated with the team’s lack of movement on the trade market in recent years, especially when it comes to star players. The Mitchell situation was a prime example of Miami striking out on a special talent.

But there will be more opportunities in the future, and the hope is that the Heat will pounce if the right deal becomes available.

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