External hopes for the Miami Heat's 2025-26 season could not be any lower. OK, they could technically be projected to be worse, but NBA life is best lived on the extremes—either contending for a championship or chasing the best draft-lottery odds—and Miami is pegged for monotonous mediocrity.
While the entire franchise is responsible for proving the naysayers wrong, the onus falls on Bam Adebayo to lead the charge. He is the closest thing to a star this superstar-less roster has, but last season wasn't the greatest display of his peak abilities. He backtracked enough on offense to fail to generate any All-Star buzz, and for the first time since becoming a full-time starter in 2019-20, he was left off of the All-Defensive teams, too.
The Heat can't afford a repeat showing. Because if Adebayo isn't rubbing elbows with the NBA's elite, the Heat won't have a prayer of doing the same.
Miami needs Adebayo to ascend to two-way stardom
Defense has always been Adebayo's calling card. While there's plenty of power, ferocity, and paint protection packed into his 6'9", 255-pound frame, it's his versatility and 1-through-5 switching ability that make him a true standout on the game's less glamorous end.
Miami obviously needs him to be at his best on defense, since that figures to be where the Heat shine brightest. For everything that went sideways last season, the Heat still fielded a top-10 defense, per NBA.com, and Adebayo had as much to do with that ranking as anyone.
Having said that, top-shelf defense is sort of a given for the big fella. It's also clearly not enough to put this club on a path toward anything remotely resembling title contention. Miami had a good defense last season, but the team wasn't actually good: 45 losses in the regular season, followed by a first-round sweep.
If the Heat are going to level up in time to capitalize on the injury-riddled Eastern Conference, they need a much better showing from their offense (21st in efficiency). While Adebayo has more help on that end—chiefly from returning All-Star Tyler Herro, newcomer Norman Powell, and breakout candidate Nikola Jovic—the Heat still need him to do more of the heavy lifting than he's done to this point.
Or do a better job of shouldering that load, at least.
His 18.1 points this past season, his fewest in five years, weren't nearly enough for a building block. His 48.5 field-goal percentage was the worst of his career. His 4.3 assists were good-not-great, but they also probably fall under the not-enough label, particularly given the club's lack of a primary playmaker.
The Heat need Adebayo to prove he can be a top-shelf anchor on both ends of the court. Forget about expanding his range—though that was the most promising part of this 2024-25 season—he needs to dominate in the other offensive areas. That means being unstoppable around the rim, unguardable (for fellow bigs) off the dribble, and unencumbered as a playmaker.
He has more to him than he showed last season. He's been a 20-point scorer, a double-digit rebounder, and a five-assist passer in the past. If he can perk up his volume and rediscover his shooting efficiency, Miami just might factor into a wide-open race for Eastern Conference supremacy.