Facing a fork in the road for the franchise, there's one Bam Adebayo truth that the Miami Heat must accept. It's this idea that Bam may not be the player to build their roster around, and that a complete rebuilding of the roster may be the only logical path forward.
The Heat clearly aren't at a point where they're ready to admit it, but there's at least a small chance that Bam is not the player the team should be building around. Bam is a really good player, but he may not be a great one. At this point in his career, entering his age-28 season, he may have already hit his peak.
If this is his peak, it's not a bad thing. But if he's expected to be the best player on the Heat, that's a complete disservice to the rest of the build. And, to be quite honest, an impossible ask from Bam.
Bam has been a pillar of stability for the Heat
Since breaking out as a budding star player during the 2019-20 NBA season, Bam has been nothing but a pillar of stability on both ends of the floor for the Heat. Over the last five seasons, Bam has consistently averaged between 18-20 points per game, 9-10 rebounds per game, and 3-4 assists per contest on roughly 50 percent shooting from the field.
He's also been one of the best - and most versatile - defensive players in the league. There's no question the Heat would be lost without Bam. However, at the same time, if he doesn't make the jump to superstardom this season, you can't help but wonder if the Heat will ever be able to make a return to championship contender status as long as he's the centerpiece of their build.
And if he's not currently considered the centerpiece of their build, they have some big questions to answer. Because with him on the roster on a max contract, it's going to be increasingly difficult to find another superstar player to build around - especially with the big questions the Heat will have to answer about Tyler Herro coming up pretty soon.
The honest truth is that while Bam is a really good player, if he's going to continue to be the main building block of this core, it's going to be downright impossible for the Heat to escape mediocrity without that final leap to superstardom.
There's a perception that Bam should be the Heat's Giannis Antetokounmpo, but he's not there yet. He's one of the most versatile star players in the league, but is far from that superstar tier. And if that doesn't change soon, the Heat must figure out how they're going to proceed forward as a franchise.
The Heat may have a Bam problem that they may not want to admit right now. But it's only going to get worse if it continues to go unaddressed.