Miami Heat: 3 preseason goals revisited for Bam Adebayo

With the Miami Heat on a tear through a third of the 2019-20 season, Bam Adebayo has been a huge part of it. Let’s take a look back at his preseason goals.

The Miami Heat are doing much better than anyone expected coming into the 2019-20 season, with there being not a soul out there that expected them to be this good this quickly. While we won’t complain, a huge part of the reason why has been the quick evolution and adaptation of some players, massive steps taken forward by others, and the instant popcorn-like chemistry that developed between Jimmy Butler and the rest of his teammates.

With all that in mind though, you would immediately want to heap a ton of credit into the lap of Jimmy Butler and rightfully so being that he is the main resident superstar in Miami, but there are in fact at least two superstars on this Miami Heat team. Bam Adebayo is right on the cusp of superstardom if you ask me, if he hasn’t already begun to cross over that threshold in the eyes of others.

Through 36 games he is averaging a double-double at 15.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per contests. While you may look at these and think that they aren’t superstar numbers, I would sternly implore you to watch him play a game, where he is sure to have a superstar impact on the game and it’s outcome.

With all this though, let us take a look at the three goals we set for Bam Adebayo coming into the 2019-20 season. Here they are.

• Become a dominant post presence
• Become another playmaker for this Heat team
• Become a leader for this Heat team

This doesn’t take fancy coding and high falutin graphics to address. He has basically crushed all of those goals a third through the season, but let’s dive a little bit into the details.

While he hasn’t become Shaq on the block, he has become a force in the paint. Whether it be the short jumper, the executing of a move and the drive, or whether it be off of offensive rebounds and putbacks, Bam Adebayo has made the painted area his this season. If he continues to do what he has done up until this point this season, he will continue to crush this goal with flying colors.

All you have to do is look at his actual assist numbers to see that he’s become another playmaker for this Heat team. It goes beyond just the pass though, as Bam is adept at handling the ball in the full court or half court, while also realizing how to set defenders up to get his teammates open shots.

He is also becoming a leader on this team. While he isn’t as quite as vocal as Jimmy Butler is yet, he is doing it with his actions on the court.

Based on the way you see his other teammates act towards him and the expectations that the organization, decision-makers, and his teammates have of him every night, that is proof of the leadership they look to him to display. While it doesn’t always work out this way, Bam has crushed the goals we set for him during the preseason. Hopefully, he continues to do so, because that will only mean that the Miami Heat are continuing in their winning ways.