Miami Heat: 3 ways Erik Spoelstra needs to utilize Bam Adebayo

More Than A Large Body

The Heat roster is in no way comparable to the juggernaut that the Warriors have assembled. So take everything I say here with a grain of salt.

However, the Heat need to start playing Adebayo in a Draymond Green-like fashion and I think there may have been signs of this in Summer League.

Firstly, Green was 16th in the league in touches per game. This ranks ahead of all his other Warrior teammates and ahead of point guards like Kyle Lowry, Chris Paul, and Kyrie Irving.

He also had an assist ratio of 28.6 percent, which would put him at 14th in the league. This is where the grain of salt comes in, because he does have some of the best teammates in the league, so naturally more of his passes would turn into makes as opposed to misses.

What allows Green to shine though is the fact that the coaching staff puts the ball in his hand and are trusting in him to make the right play; something Adebayo should start learning himself.

With fewer legitimate options around him, the Heat coaching staff started doing just that in Summer League this summer. While Duncan Robinson and Derrick Jones Jr. were making strong impacts, everyone knew that Adebayo would be the guy to make the team flourish.

Jeff Siegel of Dime Magazine, had this to say after seeing a bit of Bam in the Summer League.

"“Still, there have been flashes of what makes Adebayo a potential star in this league. His handle, passing, and vision are miles ahead of most of his competitors at his position, in Summer League or the NBA, and when he’s able to catch and survey the defense, he’s a high-level passer to spot-up shooters and cutters.”"

Add that to the Udonis Haslem-like mentality he’s been trying to develop, and you could be looking at having a version of one of the members of the Hampton 5.