MIAMI — The buzz for the Miami Heat to play Bam Adebayo alongside another center has grown louder in recent years.

At the start of this past offseason, Heat vice president of basketball development and longtime team captain Udonis Haslem added to that noise during an ESPN appearance.

“I think Bam can play the four [power forward] and move around a little bit,” Haslem said on TV in early May. “If we get a center, maybe in the draft or through free agency, then we can move Bam to the four.”

Then the Olympics happened this summer and the double-big frontcourt of Adebayo and nine-time All-Star center Anthony Davis anchored an extremely effective bench unit for Team USA. While an All-NBA talent such as Davis isn’t on the Heat’s roster to play next to Adebayo, the Olympics provided a glimpse at what such a pairing could unlock in Adebayo’s game.

On Thursday, the Heat’s social media team joined the fun by posting a short video of Adebayo running a pick-and-roll with Heat rookie center Kel’el Ware. The outside push for the Heat to consider playing Adebayo and Ware together started as soon as Miami selected Ware with the 15th overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

But the one who has the final say on the Heat’s lineups — head coach Erik Spoelstra — believes the discussion is overstated. After all, Adebayo has logged extended minutes with bigs such as 6-foot-11 center Kelly Olynyk and 7-foot center Meyers Leonard in past seasons.

Adebayo even spent the final weeks of last season starting alongside the 6-foot-10 Nikola Jovic in the Heat’s frontcourt. Jovic is not a center but he does bring size to the court, and the Heat outscored opponents by five points per 100 possessions in the 424 minutes that duo played together after the All-Star break last regular season.

“Look, I get it that there’s a big narrative about that,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat in the Bahamas through Saturday for training camp at Baha Mar. “But Bam has played with bigs before. So I think what everybody is trying to get to is making it an absolute, like it has to be this kind of specific big. I don’t know, it’s kind of a silly discussion to me. Does it have to be a 7-footer that does what? He’s played next to 7-footers. So what’s the definition, what are we trying to get to and what’s the purpose of this discussion? Sometimes I struggle with that.”

But between Adebayo’s ever-evolving game that now appears to include a more reliable three-point shot and the first-round selection of a skilled 7-footer such as Ware who projects to be a quality shot blocker and has the ability to make threes, there now looks to be more potential than ever for Adebayo to play alongside another center.

“I think it will get explored because it was kind of an idea at the Olympics,” Adebayo, 27, said when asked this week about the possibility of playing as part of more double-big lineups this season. “Obviously, I think that’s where a lot of the buzz was coming from. Because it was like, ‘How does Bam play the four position? And does he do this, does he do that?’ The way I played kind of put it in perspective of, ‘No, he’s really positionless and can do it all.’”

According to Basketball Reference’s tracking, Adebayo played 100 percent of his minutes at center in each of the past two seasons. That’s because a large chunk of Adebayo’s minutes during the last two seasons have been spent playing with small-ball power forwards such as Caleb Martin (6-5) and Haywood Highsmith (6-5).

Whether Adebayo is considered the power forward or center doesn’t necessarily matter to him, though. It’s the freedom to do other things as part of bigger lineups — like spend more time on the perimeter on both ends of the court — that appeals to Adebayo.

“It would take a lot more off my plate to do other things,” Adebayo said. “So when people move that goalpost for me with DPOY [Defensive Player of the Year] or All-NBA, it’s just like I get why they move it — my stats aren’t eye-popping. But it’s like if I’m guarding one through five and y’all are saying I can’t get DPOY, well there’s not a lot of DPOYs getting 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. And there’s not a lot of All-NBA players getting top five in DPOY voting every year. It’s just that the goal post moves for me.”

With Adebayo thriving next to Davis at the Olympics this summer, Spoelstra had a front-row seat to that success as a Team USA assistant coach during the national team’s run to the gold medal.

“Honestly, I don’t think I had to have that conversation,” Adebayo said with a laugh when asked if using more double-big lineups with the Heat ever came up in conversations with Spoelstra during the Olympics. “I think it was my teammates and the other coaches who gave him an earful of you’re holding him back. So it’s hilarious to have that moment with Spo. Then also I feel like it was one of those things where sometimes seeing is believing. Spo was my development coach in the Olympics, so he got to see me work on my game in all aspects.”

Of course, the Heat has won many games with a smaller forward playing alongside Adebayo in the frontcourt. From Jae Crowder to P.J. Tucker to Martin, Adebayo’s best basketball has come playing next to forwards like those who spread the floor with the threat of three-point shooting and possess the defensive versatility to allow the Heat to deploy its switch-heavy scheme.

Adebayo’s game continues to grow, though, and his improved three-point shot unlocks more possibilities for who the Heat can pair him with in the frontcourt. After shooting just 1-of-14 (7.1 percent) on threes through his first 54 appearances last regular season, Adebayo shot 14-of-28 (50 percent) from three-point range during his final 17 regular-season games.

Among the centers currently on the Heat’s roster who are options to play alongside Adebayo are Thomas Bryant, Kevin Love and Ware. While Ware is the most intriguing option because of his combination of length and athleticism at 20 years old, whether Ware plays meaningful minutes next to Adebayo this season will depend on his development as an NBA rookie.

“There could be, but we’ll see,” Spoelstra said when asked if Adebayo will be used in more double-big lineups this season. “The most important thing is us getting a group that can command control of the game to our identity and at the same time complement each other to be able to lift us to higher levels. We’re working through that right now.

“But certainly Bam’s versatility lends itself to have different guys around him. That’s the most important thing. You can’t just have one way anymore. You have to have versatility, you have to have roster flexibility and we feel like this group has a lot of that.”

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