Amid an up-and-down season for the Miami Heat, Bam Adebayo has remained a steady, influential force for the franchise that drafted him 14th in 2017.
Jimmy Butler trade chatter and the impact of his suspension made waves for interested ears, but Adebayo, who was officially named Heat team captain before last season, was a calm and assuring voice as he and his teammates left the team drama between Butler and Miami’s front office. Like head coach Erik Spoelstra, Adebayo’s focus has remained on doing everything possible to win the next possession and game for the Heat.
Adebayo missed Monday’s game in Los Angeles against the Clippers with a lower back injury.
“He’s still very vocal even though he’s not suited up,” Tyler Herro told the media after the game. “You feel his energy; you feel his voice in the huddles, before the game, after the game. Obviously, missing him on the court is one thing, but I like how he’s leading us in different ways.”
Adebayo has also been adjusting to a new approach on offense this season, which has come with statistical peaks and valleys. That hasn’t changed how important he remains to how the Heat function. He entered this season with an ambition to provide Miami with more floor-spacing, which has already resulted in him attempting 97 3-pointers, nearly matching his total from his first six NBA seasons (104). Adebayo’s current scoring average (16.9) is on pace for his lowest since his first season as a full-time starter (17.1 in 2019-20), but he is still a massively impactful two-way player.
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He’s also on pace for his least efficient season as a pro (45.6 percent from the field), but much of that can be attributed to a rough start out the gate. Since Dec. 1, the two-time Olympic gold medalist is shooting 48 percent overall, which is still down from the 54.7-percent mark he posted during his first six NBA seasons. His efficiency on easier looks has quietly trended up in recent weeks. Over the aforementioned stretch, Adebayo is shooting 73.8 percent from the restricted area, 48.7 percent on midrange attempts and 55 percent on layups. Prior to Dec. 1, he made only 31.3 percent of his layups.
Beyond shooting and scoring touch, Adebayo’s penchant for creating scoring opportunities for his teammates, running in transition, communicating his observations and routinely holding down one of the NBA’s best defensive units makes him incredibly important, even if his own offensive numbers are down. Despite the regression, he’s still had big scoring nights, making timely triples and putting his offensive talents on display, but Herro’s scoring touch has been the engine behind Miami’s offense this season. That has left Adebayo to focus on other aspects of the game.
“He’s a great player — All-Star, Olympian, all that kind of stuff. Great defender, too. Really the guy that anchors their defense,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said earlier this month. “He’s just a great all-around player. So, whatever you’re trying to gameplan, it’s got to be hopefully simple so that our guys can understand it. You want to make it tough and get him to take contested shots as much as possible, stay away from the dunks, the after-timeout lobs and all that kind of stuff.”
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To Carlisle’s point about Adebayo anchoring Miami’s defense, he is the only player in the league to earn an All-Defense selection in each of the previous five seasons. No one else can match his knack for blitzing pick-and-rolls, guarding all positions, using active hands on the perimeter to confuse opponents, slip around screens and plenty more. His 124 deflections entering Friday rank eighth across the league, per NBA. He, three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and 2022-23 Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson are the only bigs ranked within the top 15.
Even when critiquing Adebayo’s offense, it’s hard to overlook how he keeps the ball moving even when his shot isn’t falling. His 4.6 assists per game rank third on the team and are on pace for his most since the 2020-21 season (5.4, a career high.). His 45.9 passes per game would be his second most in seven NBA seasons. The Heat routinely rank among the league’s best teams in assist rate, which is mainly because Adebayo often runs dribble handoffs with teammates who thrive on catch-and-shoot opportunities or attack the basket once he helps them navigate a clear path to the basket.
Would it be nice to see Adebayo consistently provide higher scoring outputs? Sure, but that may depend on who you ask – I just wouldn’t advise asking him.
“I do it all. I can pass. I can score. Obviously, I can anchor a top-five defense,” Adebayo told The Athletic. “At the end of the day, I (endure) endless battles of, ‘He should be more aggressive. He should do this. He should do that.’ It’s all the couch coaches talking, but everybody in this locker room understands how valuable I am, not only on the offensive side, but the defensive side, so I just go out there and make it happen.”
Eventually, Adebayo’s numbers will better resemble the All-Star form fans and observers would prefer. He won’t pursue them at the expense of his teammates, especially when the likes of Herro (career-best 62.5 percent true shooting percentage), Duncan Robinson (team-record 1,100 3-pointers) and Haywood Highsmith (40.9 percent shooting on catch-and-shoot 3s this season) can space the floor with much more comfort. It’s understandable to feel Adebayo may be deferential to a fault, but his production has been crucial to a team that has two NBA Finals runs under its belt since he began starting for the Heat.
Without Adebayo, Miami’s ball-movement would grow more stagnant and its defense far less effective. He and Spoelstra often lament criticisms from those who call out the statistics but don’t fully frame the impact, which is a fair approach to appreciating one of the league’s most hidden needle-movers, even in a perceived down season. Even if Adebayo finishes a game scoreless, it wouldn’t come without stressing opposing coaches who see the other ways he can induce stress for opponents and actual NBA coaches who routinely laud his layers.
“The thing about Bam that I appreciate most is that he never seems like he’s in a rush. (The Heat) and he do a good job making you work,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said on Jan. 4. “We’ve seen it over the years when Bam plays two-man game, sometimes it’s two or three handbacks that happen in one possession. They’re just going to grind you down until you make a mistake.
“Bam’s evolved as a decision-maker as his career has gone on, but you can see the work that he does on the skill-piece of his game. … Sometimes, he takes shots the analytics would tell you to live with, but that floater, his little midrange jumper, all those in-between shots, he’s really good at. So, when you couple that with his fierce competitiveness, you know any time you play Miami and against Bam, you’re going to have to play the entirety of a possession, and you’re going to have to be ready for 48 minutes of a fight.”
(Top photo: Rocky Widner / Getty Images )
