Grading the Heat centers and Miami’s longterm outlook at the position

With the 2022-2023 Heat season now firmly in the rearview mirror and the sting of the NBA Finals loss dulled by the passage of time, I wanted to begin putting together grades for every player to have suited up for the Heat this past year. Considering how wildly different the regular season and postseason went for the team, each player will receive a regular season grade, a playoff grade, and a composite.

First, let’s look at the centers:

Bam Adebayo

Regular Season Grade: A

Playoff Grade: A-

Overall Grade: A-

While the 2022-2023 Heat regular season was more often than not a slog, the shining bright spot of the team was the ascendent Adebayo. Bam elevated his scoring average for the 6th consecutive year (a career-best 20.4 PPG) and had a career-high 11 games of 30 points or better while continuing to function as a one-man wrecking crew on defense. He was named to his 2nd NBA All-Star Team and made NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team for the 4th consecutive year. He was also routinely available within lineups that were otherwise in flux, playing and starting in 75 of 82 games About the only knock on Bam was a slight dip in production after the All-Star break (21.6 PPG 10.0 RPG pre; 17.3 PPG, 7.1 RPG post)

The postseason story is a bit murkier. I’m still giving Bam an A-level grade on the strength of singularly tremendous defense against some of the NBA’s fiercest frontlines, but there were real warts on offense for stretches against Milwaukee and Boston. His dip in FG% (54% regular season to 48% postseason) was noticeable at times, but Adebayo found myriad ways to help the team even when his shot wasn’t falling. And credit to him, unlike in other postseasons, Bam was consistently getting shot attempts up (15.1 per game). The downside to this was that Adebayo didn’t draw enough fouls in proportion to his increased shot attempts, hence his middling efficiency. It’s doubly a shame because he had an excellent year at the foul line (80.6 FT% regular season, 82.1 FT% postseason). Some of this, perhaps, could’ve been mitigated by better guard play. With Tyler Herro unavailable, Bam lost one of his best pick-and-roll partners.

In a Game 7 must-win against Boston (that he was roundly criticized for), Bam put up a near triple-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists (along with completely erasing Boston’s entire offense) and followed it up with an NBA Finals where he scored 20 points or greater in each game while ably guarding the best basketball player on planet earth and stifling an otherwise terrifying Nuggets offense.

Simply put, Adebayo’s improved every single year. I don’t expect that to change next season. In his four years as a full-time starter, Miami’s made the conference finals or better in three of those four years. He is a centerpiece, no pun intended, of this team.

Cody Zeller

Regular Season Grade: B

Playoff Grade: D-

Overall Grade: D

Ahhh the Zeller minutes. Signed off the street in late-February, Zeller ended up playing in more playoff games (21) than regular season games (15). In the regular season, Zeller proved a very capable backup center, nimble on his feet, soundly setting screens, and converting shots in the paint when given the rock (62% from the field). There was nothing spectacular about his play, but the mere competence was extremely welcome.

Then we get to the postseason…

The only reason not to give Zeller a flat F grade was due to a handful of decent moments early against Milwaukee and New York. But within the bigger postseason picture, any moment Adebayo sat and Zeller entered spelled disaster for the Heat. That he even played in the NBA Finals at all bordered on malpractice. Zeller routinely struggled to secure contested rebounds and was a prime target on the floor for opposing offenses. His “size” against Nikola Jokic served no purpose other than to yield free paint points.

Harsh as it all may sound, this grade isn’t even really an indictment of Zeller so much as it is the mere idea of playing any backup center deep into a postseason. Many of the league’s best postseason teams adapted and played their power forwards at the backup five spot, and it’s a shame Miami was unable or unwilling to do the same. As it stands, it is unlikely that Miami brings the 30-year-old Zeller back considering the number of other project centers on the roster. Still, there is value in being an 82-game innings eater; the issue is projecting anything further than that.

Dewayne Dedmon

Regular Season Grade: F

Playoff Grade: N/A

Overall Grade: F

Everything negative expressed about Cody Zeller’s postseason run can apply to Dewayne Dedmon’s Heat regular season. At least Zeller’s flaws were against the highest-level NBA competition. Whenever Dedmon checked in for the Heat, you could almost count on a 12-2 run by the opposing team. In between launching ill-advised threes (29.7%) and botching the simplest defensive rotations, Dedmon mollywhopped a massage tool and found himself traded and bought out not long after. Had he simply not played, had other players been given his minutes from the get-go, there’s a real chance Miami could’ve netted a couple of extra wins and avoided the play-in tournament altogether.

It’s a shame because Dedmon was a tremendous backup center two seasons prior when he was signed, and was still largely decent in 2021-2022. His decline in play was precipitous and his exit ignominious.

Orlando Robinson

Regular Season Grade: C

Playoff Grade: N/A

Overall Grade: C

One of Miami’s two-way contracts, Robinson was soon called upon to play regular backup minutes in between injuries and Dewayne Dedmon’s general ineffectiveness and had some nice moments, including a 15-point, 9-rebound game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in December. Robinson showed steady hands in the paint and a natural understanding of screen-and-roll angles. However, as the season went on, his defensive inexperience and lack of mobility and leaping ability became more apparent, leading Miami to add Kevin Love and Cody Zeller to bolster the power rotation. Robinson, as a result, spent much of March and April with the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

As a two-way player, Robinson was ineligible for the postseason. He may get another crack at Summer League in the coming weeks to show Miami that he deserves another look next year.

Omer Yurtseven

Regular Season Grade: Inc

Playoff Grade: N/A

Overall Grade: Inc

Yurtseven was expected to be the backup center to Bam Adebayo entering the season (and there was even talk of two big lineups with him, though I remain dubious to this ever actually being under consideration), but a mysterious preseason ankle injury turned into a surgery that limited Yurtseven to only 9 games in the regular season. It’s hard to grade him on much of anything with such a small sample. As with last year, Yurtseven’s sheer size and wingspan made him a capable rebounder and interior finisher, and he sunk 3 of his 7 three point attempts (1 of 11 last year), but defensive lapses and a penchant for excessive fouling badly stuck out whenever Big Yurt did play.

Yurtseven was a statistically productive player in 2021-2022 when called upon to play regular minutes, but it is difficult to project whether he is still in Miami’s long-term developmental plans or not.

Udonis Haslem

Regular Season Grade: A+

Playoff Grade: A+

Overall Grade: A+

Enjoy retirement, Captain.