Is Bam Adebayo the second star for the Miami Heat after all?

The Miami Heat are off to a great start to the year, and that’s thanks largely to Jimmy Butler. It turns out, however, Bam Adebayo has proven to be more than a wing man.

We’re just two months into the NBA season, and the Miami Heat are racking up the accolades. They have signature wins over the Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers, and Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are the current reigning winners of the last two Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards.

Following the Heat victory over the Sixers on Wednesday night, Butler was asked about the number of stars on the team:

While one day Butler’s joking question might just be the case, Adebayo is perhaps quite a way from usurping his status as the top star on the Heat roster. However, it’s quickly becoming clear that if this isn’t a two-star team yet, it’s on the threshold.

Adebayo is becoming a game-changer on both ends of the floor with two triple-doubles a week ago on the way to winning his Player the Week award. His defense is tremendous but he’s quickly growing and developing on the offensive end in eye-opening ways.

So far this season he’s averaging 15.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks. Adebayo has richly rewarded the Miami Heat organization for putting their trust in him late last season when they moved him into the starting center spot. That move bumped Hassan Whiteside to the bench and ultimately trading him to clear space in order to consummate the sign-and-trade that brought Butler to Miami.

Bam Adebayo is just 22 years old, but the sky is the limit for him down the road. In the meantime, he’s much more than Jimmy Butler’s wing man, and his development into a star is going to be a pleasure for Miami Heat fans to watch throughout this season and the rest of his career.