Who the Miami Heat Could’ve Had: Nikola Vucevic

In the offseason, there was speculation the Miami Heat were in talks with acquiring Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic.

Vucevic showed why there was interest in the Bulls' victory against the Heat Tuesday. He finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds.

Vucevic, who is averaging 16.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and three assists this season, is the only player in the NBA with at least 50 3-pointers and 300 rebounds. A two-time All-Star, he reminded Heat fans he could have been a key acquisition during free agency.

Vucevic was reportedly in trade rumors for Heat forward Duncan Robinson. An Eastern Conference executive suggested the Heat could acquire Vucevic, per Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney.

“The Bulls had some interest in Duncan Robinson before and if the Heat really wanted Vucevic, that could be the basis of a deal,” the executive said. “Vucevic for Robinson. The Heat would have to add Omer Yurtseven to give Chicago a big guy to work with. And the Bulls would probably want them to take back Tony Bradley just to have a little more money under the tax in case they want to add a guy.”

The Heat are content with center Bam Adebayo’s play this season. He is averaging 20.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists, proving himself as the No. 2 scorer behind Jimmy Butler.

Adding Vucevic would have allowed Adebayo to play more at power forward. This would give the team more size and two bigs who can score consistently.

The Heat’s lack of size has forced them to use Dewayne Dedmon more than fans like. He is a serviceable backup center but is limited and foul-prone. In addition, Adebayo at the four would send Caleb Martin back to being a backup small forward, a role which he flourishes.

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.