I understand how much Miami Heat fans love Bam Adebayo. I love him too. Nonetheless, tough love is still love. And, right now, after his first two offensive performances, he's letting Giannis Antetokounmpo down.
At the very least, this has been a pretty nightmarish start for Bam, particularly on the offensive end of the floor.
Bam Adebayo's nightmare start to the season
Unfortunately, Bam’s first two performances against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons are all too familiar for him. For as great as he can be, there’s a reason the Heat traded a lot for Giannis: he’s not consistent enough to be the main guy every night.
Against the Wolves, Bam finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists on 50 percent shooting from the field. On the surface, that isn't bad. But nine of those points came in the third quarter when the Heat were getting absolutely buried by Minnesota. You can't be the second option on a competitive team while scoring six points in the first half.
It got even worse against the Pistons, in which Bam finished with just four points and six rebounds. He also only took six shot attempts before being fouled out.
Bam Adebayo's offensive struggles are nothing new
And the problem is that we’ve seen this from Bam plenty of times, whether he’s the third, second, or first offensive option for the Heat.
In theory, Bam being a second option should consistently help him avoid these performances, especially on the offensive end of the floor. But he just hasn't been consistent enough, and that's been one of the truly frustrating parts of his game.
Over the course of his career, Bam will put up 15 points in one game, 35 the next, then 10 the next two. Of course, that averages out to 17.5 points, but the true impact of his scoring isn’t equal to the raw averages he can rack up.
So, how can he improve? First, it’s dominating bench units that he’s too passive against. I appreciate his willingness to facilitate offense, but when you’re on the floor against bench players, you need to score like an all-star. I appreciated his aggressiveness from 3-point range, but save the jumpers for when Giannis needs space and put your head down aggressively. Tim Hardaway Jr. can’t be taking more shot attempts than you when you’re on the court.
Through the first two games, that's been a very concerning trend.
That’s the ultimate gripe with Bam: we know what he can be at his best. But we only see it every few games. He can't be doing this if the Heat want to achieve their highest form as championship contenders. He can't be doing this with Giannis.
Giannis has scored 30-plus points in each of the Heat's first two games, but he's gotten little help from his co-star. That just can't be the case. That needs to change. And that falls on Bam.
Bam's defense continues to be generally stellar and consistent, and I don't take that for granted. Unfortunately, this team, with Giannis, demands that he be a much better offensive player than he has been in the past.
If Bam can finally be consistent on offense and hit a few more jumpers and show more aggressiveness, we're looking at a whole different level of team. They're probably not 0-2 at this point. I just don't know if he can reach that level.
But if the Heat is going to be successful with Giannis, there's no question he has to get there.
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