Why Heat fans should be excited about Bam Adebayo

The Miami Heat surprised with the selection of Kentucky’s Bam Adebayo in the first round of the draft, adding a unique and powerful forward to their frontline. 

Back in February, the Heat were linked to Serge Ibaka as his tenure with the Orlando Magic never took off. Ibaka eventually landed in Toronto after the Raptors traded a first round pick and Terrence Ross but the interest in the bulky forward foreshadowed the direction Pat Riley sees for the organization.

And on draft night, the Heat got their very own version of Ibaka in the form of Bam Adebayo, a towering forward from Kentucky who could find a very comfortable role within the Heat’s rotation.

The Heat’s selection of Adebayo rightfully raised some questions, as this was a name hardly associated with lottery teams but upon further inspection there are a number of reasons to be hopeful that the 19-year old can blossom into a solid role player for the Heat.

On the surface, Adebayo played high-level college basketball at Kentucky for John Calipari, the coach who earlier in the draft sent two of his backcourt players—De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk—to the NBA. Adebayo was the third Wildcat off the board and its hard to ignore the Calipari stamp of approval especially considering the immense wealth of talent he’s put into the NBA over the years.

More from All U Can Heat

• Grade the Trade: Heat grab Trae Young in shocking proposal
• NBA 2K24 Ratings: Takeaways and reactions to Miami Heat player ratings
• 4 Teams that should trade for Tyler Herro
• Miami Heat’s Nikola Jovic gives entire world reason to love him
• 1 Advantage the Heat have over every Southeast Division team

Riley and the Heat certainly drafted for potential with Adebayo, putting the faith entirely into their player development program. Adebayo is young and raw, still 19, but brings with him an established NBA body and the athleticism to make his mark on the game.

Adebayo resembles a version of the man he’ll possibly be replacing on the roster—Willie Reed—in that he seeks to dunk everything around the rim. Whether it’s a putback, rebound or making a play off the pick and roll, Adebayo is always looking to finish with authority and his large frame allows him to do so. He became a favorite lob target of Monk and Fox as the Wildcats operated their high octane offense.

Playing in a wide-open offense like Kentucky employed allowed Adebayo to operate in space, getting into the pick and roll game as well as running the fast break. He is excellent at going rim to rim with surprising speed, combining that with the ability to catch and finish on the run as well.

Adebayo’s solid screening game as well as his ability to make the appropriate play in space will lend himself well to the situations he’ll find himself in with the Heat as Erik Spoelstra looks to continue to implement his pace and space attack. Of course, the Heat will also look to add to Adebayo’s game, the most important of which will be his shooting (the Thunder did the same with Ibaka over the years), something he already expressed in his post-draft interview with ESPN.

While Adebayo might not be a household name, what he brings to the Miami Heat will be all of the things the organization stands for. A tough, hard-nosed defender who can block shots and clear out space on rebounds that lead to explosive plays around the rim.

Next: Twitter reacts to the Heat selecting Bam Adebayo

Not only are the Heat betting on Adebayo with this pick, but they’re also betting on themselves. It’s very possible that the forward spends some time in South Dakota as a part of the Sioux Falls Sky Force this year but he’ll surely find his spot in the Heat’s rotation because of his relentless motor and developing skills on both ends.