Miami Heat: Bam & Tyler Definitely Have Awards In Their Future… And Present
Bam Adebayo has been a great defender in the NBA for a while now, but this year, he brought his game to the next level. His defensive stats are incredible.
2. Defensive Player of the Year- Bam Adebayo
He is leading the NBA in defensive win shares. He has limited his opponents to poor shooting nights, but his impact speaks beyond the stats.
When Bam is on the floor, the Miami Heat defense is at its best. There is a reason the Heat have the best defense in the NBA.
Bam is the primary reason. When he is on the floor, it is hard to score on him.
Even the best of the best struggle to score over Adebayo. His defense elevates the level of everyone around him.
That’s why the Heat can get so many stops. It all starts with him.
There is no one else who is doing what Bam is doing right now. The player closest to his level of impact on the defensive end would be Rudy Gobert, but they can’t give him the Defensive Player of the Year Award again, right?
He has already won the award three times and they have to share the wealth (never mind what the Clippers did to him last year). Besides and so far this year, Adebayo deserves the award more than Gobert does anyway.
1. Sixth Man of The Year- Tyler Herro
If Tyler Herro does not win Most Improved Player, then he definitely deserves to win Sixth Man of the Year. As a reminder, he is putting up all of those numbers previously listed OFF THE BENCH!
To emphasize the point, here is an amazing stat. The Miami Heat are leading the NBA in bench scoring.
Yes, a team that was criticized early for its lack of scoring and lack of depth is leading the entire NBA in bench points per game with 47. And Tyler is averaging about half of that, along with his other contributions.
He has been a huge explosion off the bench. There’s really no one else who can compete with what Herro has done so far off the bench.
This award is his to lose. That goes for most others listed here too, from ranks five to one, to be honest.
Fortunately, that also stands for the Miami Heat’s chances at a title. If they can avoid having total letdowns, such as their last contest against the Celtics, they’ll be in, just as much, contention for the title as the listed guys will be for the corresponding awards.