SAN ANTONIO — It’s the offseason and there’s no Spurs action so let’s entertain this rumor.
After the 2017-18 season, the San Antonio Spurs made a deal with the Raptors for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 draft pick in exchange for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.
But did the Spurs also have a shot at a deal with the Heat for center Bam Adebayo?
According to a tweet from Five Reasons Sports Network, Miami was set to send the All-Star center to the Spurs for Leonard.
The only team that I heard had a shot at Bam from the Heat was San Antonio.
In a deal for Kawhi before the trade to Toronto.
— Five Reasons Sports (@5ReasonsSports) September 2, 2020
This would have been an interesting deal if true. Miami would have needed to add more to any deal involving Adebayo to make it more enticing for Leonard if the two sides went forward. He would have addressed the Spurs need for a big and added a defensive punch in the middle.
In the 2019-20 regular-season season, he averaged 15.9 points, 55.7% shooting, 1.3 blocks, 10.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 33.6 minutes per game for Miami.
In the end, Leonard would go on to win the 2019 NBA title with Toronto but eventually depart for the Clippers where they are now in the West Semis.
DeRozan and Poeltl have thrived in San Antonio but now their futures in San Antonio are unclear.
DeRozan has a player option this off-season and Poeltl is a restricted free agent.
