If the Miami Heat are going to chase the next superstar trade the way they always do, the rest of the league wants to know the same thing first: is Bam Adebayo actually on the table?
According to Zach Lowe, the answer other teams are getting is about as direct as it gets.
“Other teams I know have for sure asked about Bam and have been told ‘hell no,’”
Lowe said while discussing Miami’s roster-building pathways and how the Heat operate when a true A-list name is even theoretically in play.
Lowe’s point wasn’t just that Miami likes Bam. It was that Miami treats him like the foundation piece, the one player they’re not interested in using as trade currency even when the conversation turns to the league’s biggest names.
“And the wild card you also have to consider is as they sniff around at Giannis and other star players, all of those star players are gonna want to play with Bam,” Lowe added.
The Miami Heat have told teams ‘HELL NO’ when they ask to include Bam in trades per @ZachLowe_NBA 👀
“Would they ever include Bam in a package to clear their books and pivot to a younger direction? Other teams I know have for sure asked about Bam and have been told ‘Hell no’. As… pic.twitter.com/BOdqoLGMZc
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) January 2, 2026
That line matters because it flips the usual leverage dynamic. In most superstar pursuits, the acquiring team worries it has to sacrifice its best complementary talent to get the deal done. Lowe is arguing Miami believes the opposite: Bam is part of the sales pitch, not part of the payment.
It’s not hard to see why. Adebayo’s reputation across the league is built on the stuff stars value when games tighten: defensive versatility that lets you switch schemes without panic, physical screening, quick decision-making from the elbows, and a willingness to do the unglamorous work so someone else can be the headline. In other words, he’s the kind of high-level connective tissue that makes superstars look even more like superstars.
Miami’s stance is also backed by the paper trail. The Heat signed Adebayo to a reported three-year, $166 million extension in July 2024, a commitment that keeps him under contract through the 2028–29 season.
Teams don’t hand out that kind of deal to a player they’re quietly preparing to flip; they do it when they’re telling the league, and the locker room, this is one of our pillars.
Lowe’s comments also arrived in the middle of another very “Heat” reality: Miami can be simultaneously reluctant to move its core and still aggressive about chasing the next ceiling-raiser. That’s been the franchise’s posture for years, maintain a culture backbone, then pounce when a star becomes plausibly attainable. Lowe suggested he expects the Heat to remain active in those discussions without surrendering the guy other stars allegedly want to join.
So when teams call Miami and “sniff around,” they’re learning the same lesson again: you can talk picks, prospects, and salary filler, but if you bring up Bam Adebayo, the Heat’s response is still the same two words Lowe reported hearing.
Hell no.
