24-year-old Bam Adebayo was almost shipped to Minnesota in 2018.
As the star big man revealed on ‘The Old Man & The Three,’ the Heat were considering trading him to acquire Jimmy Butler from the Timberwolves.
Here are the details:
“It’s crazy cause I almost got traded for Jimmy, to Minnesota,” said Adebayo. “I almost got traded for Jimmy and Pat wouldn’t trade me. He was like ‘Nah I see something good in this kid’ and at that point, I’m sweating bullets. Like, I’m not trying to get traded. I like it in Miami. It’s warm I kinda got my feet wet, I’m familiar with the place….”
Bam was still just a role player back in 2018, averaging single digits in points with minimal playing time. It would have made perfect sense to trade him for an established star like Butler.
Looking back, it’s probably good Pat Riley decided against it.
Just months after Butler was traded to Philly, he ended up in Miami as part of a huge four-team deal over the summer.
“We kinda embraced who Jimmy was,” said Adebayo on Butler. “We knew Jimmy was an a**hole at the end of the day. We all know that. But, like, this culture embraces that. We want you to bring that a**holeness out so then on the court we got all five people that are like dogs. We want all five of y’all to be a**holes cause at that point, y’all not gonna take no sh*t and we not backing down from anybody.”
At the same time, Bam developed into a true stud. During the 2019-20 campaign, he averaged 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game on 55% shooting. It was enough for him to make his first-ever All-Star appearance.
That year, the Heat also made the NBA Finals and took the Lakers to 6 games. Now, heading into their third playoff run, they hope to finish the job and finally bring home the title.
To think, none of it would have even been possible had Pat Riley and his team made the choice to move on from Bam Adebayo before he was even a star.
