Miami Heat: The 3 Obvious Candidates To start Beside Bam Adebayo?

The most obvious candidates to start beside Bam Adebayo: KZ Okpala

The Miami Heat essentially landed second-year forward, KZ Okpala, in the second round of last year’s draft. They didn’t draft him, instead taking Bol Bol but Bol was flipped and the Heat ended up with Okpala.

While I am not here to say what Bol is or will be, I can honestly say that I am glad we ended up with Okpala. The Miami Heat might have their next great player in the house already.

We haven’t seen nearly enough, or anything at all for that matter, so the jury is way out there, if even formulated yet. However, based on the flashes, his potential, his size, his skills, his gifts, and the fact that he is a two-way all-around player bodes well for his chances of reaching maximum potential.

For him, that’s Giannis Antetokounmpo-ish, “no cap” as they say. Here’s the thing though, as far as a complete offensive game, the tools he is starting with might be better than Giannis’s were starting out.

Giannis is a bit bigger physically, however, KZ is just as long, more fluidly athletic, and more skilled from the perspective that he already has a myriad of moves and a better jump shot. Giannis is going to fake one way or hesitate, eventually to get to his spot and finish or spin back the other way and do that very same thing.

His greatness is still that as it is though because we all know what he’s going to do, but people still can’t stop it. Enough on him though, with his five year re-up, he’s still the enemy.

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KZ has freaky potential and has shown it through the preseason. That’s why, for me, he should be the starter.

The Miami Heat have a ton of firepower coming off the bench, so he could get lost. However, they actually don’t have as much raw firepower on offense in the first unit, which sounds strange.

The first unit is very balanced and Okpala could be that wildcard from night to night, while being a defensive force every night. That’s why he is an obvious candidate to start beside Bam Adebayo.