Miami Heat: Bam Adebayo Will Be MVP Candidate – Defensive Anchor
After a strong case for Defensive Player of The Year last season, Adebayo proved to be one of the more phenomenal multi-positional defenders in the league.
Defensive Impact
His steals (1.2) and blocks (1.0) weren’t eye-popping in comparison to other candidates, but expect Bam to continue impacting the game on the defensive end in ways which cannot be statistically valued.
- Last season, opposing NBA All-Stars were held to a combined 65-179 field-goals (36 percent) when defended by Adeabyo.
Though his offense stills need to take off next season, Adebayo is going to accept the challenge of defending the other team’s third, second, or possibly first offensive assignment. Expect him to continue leading Miami, as their defensive versatility should be much-improved.
Reaching MVP-status is always a steep climb and the reality is that much would have to be in Miami’s favor for Adebayo to receive consideration. However, Bam is a max-level talent and his ceiling is high enough to start to embrace it.
It’s important for Miami to have instilled confidence that he can become a player of that caliber now and the opportunity to prove it so has been a longtime coming. Let’s see what he does with it.