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Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo season grade and recap

By Tristan Tucker

BROOKLYN, NY - APRIL 10: Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat handles the ball against the Brooklyn Nets on April 10, 2019 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
BROOKLYN, NY - APRIL 10: Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat handles the ball against the Brooklyn Nets on April 10, 2019 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Bam Adebayo moved from a bench role to a starting role this season. How well did this transition go for the Miami Heat’s second-year center?

There was one player on the Miami Heat who ranked in the top three in each of the following categories last season: VORP (first), box plus-minus (first), win-shares (first), block percentage, steal percentage, rebound percentage, free throw attempt rate (first), true shooting percentage (first) and player efficiency rating (first) for players that played over 500 total minutes.

This player also ranked dead last in turnover percentage, while being bottom three in usage percentage.

Can you name him?

As you can surmise from the title, it is Bam Adebayo, the young Miami Heat center who will be entering his third season next year.

Adebayo was expected to show some growth this season, but shattered all expectations as he became the eventual starting center. Adebayo also showed that he was one of the most, if not the single most, capable defenders on the entire Heat roster.

Bam is the epitome of athleticism while defending, being able to put the clamps on NBA superstars such as Stephen Curry, LeBron James and even Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has the most ridiculous frame in the entire league.

The elite perimeter defense that Bam houses is astounding, as he is only 21 years old and has so much room to grow. Even Heat legend Alonzo Mourning is extremely high on Adebayo’s defense.

All of this is most impressive, as to begin the season the young center was expected to play behind Hassan Whiteside again and get consistent minutes in the back-up role.

Instead, Adebayo evolved his game, and has even showcased the potential to be a stretch-four. In fact, a key aspect to his growth is if he can continue to connect on the elbow jumpers that he loves to take.

Bam finished with a 62.3 percent true shooting percentage, an impressive number for a player that did in fact take jump shots, and even a few threes. During his draft process with the Heat, he made 60 of 100 3-pointers from the corner, an impressive mark for a player that was never noted to do this in college.

While his per-game stats were not much to write home about, the advanced stats tell more of a story, one that shows that Adebayo can be one of the better pieces on a contending team.

Another thing that sets Bam apart is that he has the ability to play-make. While he is not a Nikola Jokic or anything close just yet, he has shown flashes of making the offense so much better when he is on the floor.

In terms of what he was asked to do, Adebayo delivered and then some. Heading into last season, head coach Erik Spoelstra could hardly carve out minutes, even in a back-up center spot that was lacking with the departure of Willie Reed from the 2016-17 season.

As last season progressed, Adebayo was able to get more and more minutes and finally became a rotation level piece. This year, Adebayo started by getting solid minutes as a back-up, albeit less than Whiteside, but as the year went on, Adebayo proved he could more than handle himself as the starter at that position.

With Bam playing as the starting center, the Heat went 16-11 in such games. When Hassan started, the Heat went 23-41, and with Udonis Haslem helming the starting spot in the last game of the season, they went 0-1. While going 16-11 as a starter is not great, part of that includes a late season four-game losing streak in which the team was without Josh Richardson and a healthy Justise Winslow. It is also the only noticeable positive change in starting lineups for the Heat last season.

The future of the Heat is somewhat of a mystery in terms of their flexibility and upside, but Adebayo, along with Winslow, Richardson and Derrick Jones Jr., are capable of bringing some exciting youth onto this team.

It remains to be seen if Adebayo will continue to start into next season (or if his competition Hassan Whiteside will even be on the roster), but Heat fans have to feel good about what they have in Bam.

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His defense was an A+, and he finished the season with the second-highest defensive rating, and his offense was an A-, but with great potential. Because Adebayo played up to his role so well for the Miami Heat, and even got an upgrade in the rotation, it is criminal to give the second-year player anything less than an A grade.

Final Grade- A

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