Miami Heat Insider: A Trade Of This Star Player "Cannot Be Ruled Out"

The Miami Heat are still embroiled in their Eastern Conference Semi-Final with the New York Knicks, but team insiders are already speculating on the fact that All-Star center Bam Adebayo could be on the move in the offseason.

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:

The notion of trading (Bam) Adebayo cannot be entirely ruled out.

The two-time All-Star put up another strong season for the Heat, averaging a career-high 20.2 points per game, along with 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

His second half, however, saw a dip in his numbers across the board, as he fell from averaging 21.6 points before the All-Star Break to just 17.3 after, and his rebounds have tracked downwards as well, from 10.0 before the break to just 7.1 boards after. He had a triple-double in the Heat's series-clinching win over Milwaukee while locking down Giannis Antetokounmpo on defense, but otherwise, his playoff scoring numbers have been a tad suppressed, at 16.9 points per game.

Earlier in the season a rival Eastern Conference executive spoke on the Heat's apparent frustration with Adebayo:

“When Bam plays aggressive, and when he is playing like he is the best guy on the floor, he is a Top 10, Top 15 player. But he doesn’t always do that, does he?... I think there is some frustration from the team that he doesn’t bring that aggressiveness every night. If he is the best player and Jimmy Butler is the No. 2 option and Tyler Herro No. 3, that is a lot better team than when Bam lets himself be the third option,” the exec said.

Still, with three seasons left on his 5-year, $163M deal with Miami, and with a trip to the Eastern Conference Final currently there for the taking, even just the suggestion that Adebayo could be on the block has some in Heat Nation pretty shocked.