Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo Will Be MVP Candidate – Scoring Needs To Be There
With the development of a pivotal role for Team USA during the 2021 Olympics and with the addition of free-agent maestro, Kyle Lowry, a year of retaliation is pending for both the Heat and Adebayo. Add the likelihood that Miami contends in the Eastern Conference, the league MVP conversation door is only beginning to open for their 24 year-old center.
From a talent perspective, Adebayo isn’t far away from recent MVP winners, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, who have become transcendent big-men in today’s game. And already among the elite at his respective position, the timing just seems impeccable for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to utilize Adebayo more than ever as a go-to option.
Ultimately, his growth begins with taking the initiative — as a scorer.
Scoring Dependability
Adeabyo’s offensive responsibilities were limited when he first arrived in the NBA. Serving mostly as a lob-threat, he received minimal touches early on.
Eventually, he would transition from strictly a roll-man, into a dependable shot-creator and isolation scorer. We saw those abilities improve last year, as he became Miami’s second leading scorer at 18.7 points per game.
After extending his shooting range to within 12-18 feet, Adebayo took his scoring prowess to even greater heights, a 62.6 True-Shooting percentage with just under 13 shot attempts.
- January 2021 (19 games) , 20.2 points, 10 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 57 percent field-goal, and 87 percent free-throws.