The Portland Trail Blazers want to trade for Bam Adebayo
The biggest goal for the Portland Trail Blazers this offseason is to use the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft to pair Damian Lillard with a superstar. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported that Portland is preparing a trade package for Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo.
“A switchable, backline anchor such as Adebayo would bring instant improvement to a Portland team that ranked 28th in defensive efficiency during the 2022-23 campaign,” Fischer wrote. “Adebayo’s presence and versatility has helped power Miami to two Finals appearances in the past four seasons.
Adebayo is coming off a sensational 2022-23 campaign. Statistically, he averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. More importantly, he was the Heat’s most productive player in the 2023 NBA Finals.
It is easy to see why the Trail Blazers want to add Adebayo. If they truly want to find post-season success with Lillard, Adebayo can help them accomplish that. At a minimum, he is an astronomical upgrade from their current center, Jusuf Nurkic.
The real question at hand is what a potential trade package for Adebayo would look like. Any realistic offer will certainly begin with the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Essentially, that presents the Heat with the option of drafting one of Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller or Amen Thompson.
The second major piece in Portland’s offer would probably be Anfernee Simons. On the surface, that does not seem like enough compensation for the Heat to even consider moving off Adebayo. If Portland is willing to deal young guard Shaedon Sharpe the deal would be much more likely.
Interestingly enough, it has been reported that the Heat are interested in adding Lillard. That would indicate that Miami is aggressively looking to be buyers this offseason. So why would they move Adebayo?
In all honesty, it seems highly unlikely that Adebayo is traded to the Trail Blazers. Portland would have to send the Heat a massive package to take them out of a contending mindset.
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