The Miami Heat are in for a real wake-up call over the next several weeks or so. With Bam Adebayo set to miss quite a bit of time after surgery on his thumb, a month or so, they will have to get used to life without the versatile big man.
Though Bam had been up and down this year, as far as his aggressiveness on a night to night basis and as indicative by his fluctuating rebounding prowess, he is absolutely essential to what the Miami Heat do.
Even when the counting stuff isn’t totally in his favor, his impact on the game is always evident. His defense, his effort, and his ability to make other players around him better are still extremely valuable.
Without all of that stuff in the lineup, the Miami Heat will have to pivot and find a way to adjust. They will have to get bigger contributions from others.
Here are the three players with the most work to do in Bam’s absence.
Miami Heat: 3 players with the most work do to in Bam Adebayo’s absence
The Miami Heat will be missing their size, some toughness, and a guy that makes their defense come together. By the function of a few things and a lot to do with the fact that he’s all over the floor defensively, he’s not really a shot-blocker—but he does protect the rim.
This is a part of where their adjustment will be the biggest. Here are two guys that will have a ton to do with that part.
P.J. Tucker
P.J. Tucker has already shown what he can do as an enforcer and pseudo-big man. That’s as a member of the Miami Heat, during his run with the NBA champions of last season, and definitely throughout his entire Houston Rockets tenure.
He’ll be forced to play bigger than he already has for the Miami Heat and in fact, more often too. His overall defense will be needed more to help account for everything that Bam does when he’s on the floor.
It seems crazy and that’s because he’s always giving what looks like maximum effort, but he’ll just have to be ready to do more.
Dewayne Dedmon
This one is extremely obvious. Dewayne Dedmon is the biggest guy on the roster in real life and the next best big on the roster, so it’s on him to do more to fill in for the Heat’s stud big guy.
When you consider the fact that he’s now the starting big, it’s a ton more work by that nature alone. At this point, he’s the heat’s only true size.
Markieff Morris’s return will help, whenever that happens, but P.J. and Dewayne have a lot before them. They aren’t alone though.
Miami Heat: The best player always needs to step up most and Jimmy Butler will
The person with the most on their plate is undoubtedly always the one that has the most glory come to them at the good points too. That’s the case here.
Well, at least for the man that fits that bill on the court.
Jimmy Butler
As the best player, Jimmy Butler immediately has to shoulder more of a load. It’s really that simple.
What’s that mean, exactly? That means scoring more, certainly.
That means that Jimmy will have to revert back to his first year in Miami a bit. It’s not that you want him to completely abandon the scoring mentality, as Bam hasn’t been the playmaker that he has been this season with Kyle Lowry‘s presence anyway, but he’ll have to just do more of that to help account for Bam’s absence.
When it comes to the other side of the ball, he’ll find himself having to take on even more of the bigger, tougher, and stronger matchups than usual. At points in most games, he finds himself in those spots anyway, however, he’ll likely be there more for the time being while Bam recovers.
The whole team has to step up and that definitely includes the shooters. Duncan Robinson needs to find his stroke, it would be nice if Kyle Lowry can consistently hit shots again, and Tyler Herro will have to take his already fantastic scoring year up a click.
Everyone has to do more with Bam down. But these three are the ones with the most work to do.