Bam Adebayo made it abundantly clear that he didn't want the Miami Heat to be a Play-In Tournament team this season. Unfortunately, it's all but certain that the Heat's mediocrity is going to crush his desires.
Quite frankly, it's something that Heat fans already knew was coming. Bam is finally learning it all in real time.
Despite the Heat's hot start to the season, in which they were 13-7 through the first 20 games, most fans could see through that optimism. That's not necessarily a knock on their hot start, but it's more so of the reality that this team carried.
The Heat don't have a team that fits together
The Heat don't have the talent to compete with the other Eastern Conference contenders, and the injuries were just too much to overcome in the end.
In fact, even when the Heat were healthy, their pieces clearly didn't fit well. It's not just that the Heat don't have any talent on their roster, but the talent they have doesn't gel together. That, more than anything, has been the biggest issue for the Heat.
Norman Powell and Tyler Herro can't play together. The Heat, with all due respect for Davion Mitchell, don't have a natural playmaker in their starting 5, and they just don't have good enough individual defenders to help Bam on that end of the floor.
The Heat's young players, despite some bright moments, have been too inconsistent, and Erik Spoelstra hasn't settled on a rotation that he's grown comfortable with. Considering we've reached the final two weeks of the season, that's not ideal.
The Heat have grown comfortable in mediocrity
Miami still has a very slim chance of winning its way into the official playoff field and then possibly putting up a strong effort against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, but, at this point, that would be extremely surprising.
With the way the front office has operated of late, there is a sense that this organization is perfectly fine with existing in mediocrity. And if that is the case, fans have every right to be up in arms. Including Bam.
This is an organization that used to preach championship or bust. Recently, it's more like Play-In Tournament or bust. Even though they would never admit it, the results speak for themselves.
From the moment this season began, it was quite clear that this Heat team wasn't good enough to compete in the East. The front office disagreed, and perhaps even some of the players were hopeful. However, now that reality has set in, fans can feel completely vindicated with their criticism.
Bam is slowly realizing what fans, unfortunately, knew all along. This Heat team was not better than a Play-In Tournament squad. And this has been the case for four straight years running.