The good news for the Miami Heat is that Bam Adebayo's foot injury doesn't appear to be too serious, as his MRI revealed he has a sprain in his left big toe. He will miss some time, but he should be back sooner rather than later.
The bad news is that Miami doesn't have a great solution to compensate for Adebayo when it comes to size, and the only option on the table is to call up undrafted rookie Vladislav Goldin to hold the fort until Adebayo returns.
Vladislav Goldin gets called up while Bam Adebayo heals
The Heat have called up Goldin from Sioux Falls, and he should be available against the Hornets. Goldin was with FAU in 2023 when the Owls made their run to the Final Four, transferred to Michigan, and went undrafted, but he was picked up by the Heat as a UDFA and was placed on a two-way contract.
Vlad Goldin is rejoining the Heat from the G League in the wake of the Adebayo injury.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) November 6, 2025
During the Summer League, Goldin looks like a decent option for a rotational big man and looks like a solid pickup for the Heat. But while he was on Miami's preseason roster, the October slate revealed just how far he still has to go in his development.
He only appeared in three games, and even then, he only averaged 7.8 minutes in those three games. He scored a couple of baskets, got some rebounds, but otherwise was just a generic big man no one paid much attention to. Perhaps most noteworthy is that despite playing under eight minutes a game, he still managed a plus/minus of -2.8 per game.
But at 7'0" and 250 pounds, he is litteraly the only immediate option Miami has to rotate for Kel'el Ware while Adebayo is out. Wednesday's loss to Denver revealed just how quickly things can fall apart for Miami when they run out of size, as the Heat were mauled on the glass in that game.
Goldin's role with the Heat
The hope for Erik Spoelstra is for Ware to step up and look like the monster that we saw at times during the preseason, and to only have to lean on Goldin for 10-15 minutes to hold the fort down.
Because if Goldin can look the part and show any of the upside he showed in the summer, there might be justification to keep him around even after Adebayo comes back.
If Goldin winds up looking like an undrafted rookie who is only suiting up because he is 7-feet tall, these next couple of weeks could get rough before Bam returns.