Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo says it “boosted my confidence extremely” to hear the Heat didn't want to include him in a trade for Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul.

The Heat had discussions with the Oklahoma City Thunder about a Westbrook trade, but were never interested in parting ways with Adebayo.

After the Thunder traded Westbrook to the Houston Rockets and acquired Paul, OKC had talks with the Heat about a Paul trade, but Miami didn't budge on its stance about not wanting to move on from Adebayo.

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“It boosted my confidence extremely. They have high expectations for me,” Adebayo told Shandel Richardson of The Athletic. “What that means is I’ve got to go in there and be who they want me to be. I can’t take time off. I can’t lose focus of what my goal is and what their goal is for me. They passed on two All-Stars to keep me. I’m thankful for that but also it’s a business at the end of the day … their business was to keep me. I’m just out there trying to keep the main goal the main goal, which is to win.”

The Heat traded Hassan Whiteside to the Portland Trail Blazers this summer, which means Bam Adebayo will be the full-time starter next season.

In 2018-19, Adebayo averaged 8.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 57.6 percent from the field.