If the Miami Heat are hoping to maximize the Bam Adebayo era, then they should follow the blueprint that the Indiana Pacers have laid out for how they bring the best out of Pascal Siakam.
Adebayo and Siakam are by no means identical players, possessing differences in their style and general approach that must be acknowledged. The structure within which Siakam thrives, however, can be adapted to the manner in which Adebayo is utilized in Miami.
Rick Carlisle has crafted a system that emphasizes Siakam's greatest strengths and simultaneously forgives his inconsistencies.
Much of that can be attributed to roster structure, which must be taken into consideration in Miami. The presence of Myles Turner as a floor-spacing rim protector, for instance, is as important as any other function of the team, including the elite playmaking from Tyrese Haliburton.
The true genius of what Carlisle and the Pacers have done, however, is that they've allowed Siakam to play his game—all the while positioning him to excel in large bursts.
Heat can learn from Pacers' Pascal Siakam approach to maximize Bam Adebayo
Putting aside any knowledge of the context of what's actually transpired, the 2025 NBA Playoffs would look like a period of hot-and-cold moments from Siakam. For instance, he scored 20-plus points in each of Indiana's first three games during the postseason, only to score 22 between his next two showings.
Siakam has registered three 30-point games and eight 20-point performances, but he's also mustered 15 or fewer points in four outings—shooting 6-of-15 and 7-of-16 in two others.
Rather than lamenting what's gone wrong, however, the Pacers have empowered Siakam to play at the pace he's capable. They're getting him the ball in the perfect spots and trusting him to make plays when it matters most.
The result: All three of Siakam's 30-point performances were registered during the Eastern Conference Finals, including a 31-point showing in the decisive Game 6.
Siakam has made a living out of shooting threes, burying midrange jumpers when they don't have to come from an angle, and scoring at virtual will in the paint. He's shot 13-of-25 on midrange shots in the middle of the court, but 16-of-61 from any angle to either the left or right.
He also buried 66.3 percent of his shots in the restricted area and 41.8 percent of his three-point field goals from middle of the floor or above the right break. When that's failed, he buried 43.9 percent of his corner threes from the left side of the offensive court.
With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that Siakam has attempted 57.8 percent of his shots in the aforementioned efficient areas during the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Bam Adebayo has elite offensive strengths—when Miami lets him play to them
Adebayo has been knocked for his offensive inconsistency, primarily in his intensity and determination to get shots off. He has genuinely elite strengths, however, due in no small part to a similarity he shares with Siakam: They're two of the best bigs in the NBA at handling the ball, as well as playing without it.
As a result, Adebayo has found areas in which he's been nothing short of unstoppable—but unlike Siakam, they aren't quite as well-known.
Adebayo shot shot 9.8 percent higher than the league average on midrange jump shots from the left side of the court and 11.9 percent above the standard from straight away. He also buried 45.5 percent of his corner three attempts, shooting 6.6 percent higher than average from the left side and 6.8 above it on the right.
Adebayo also shot 5.0 percent higher than the league average in the vecinity of the left low block, but fell 3.3 percent shy of it on the right.
With this in mind, there area four areas in which Adebayo can be trusted to shoot with elite efficiency. Rather than criticizing him for the areas in which he falls short, Miami should be making it a priority to get him the ball in his comfort zones and build its strategy out from there.
That patient approach has allowed Indiana to work through Siakam's inconsistencies and build a rhythm in other areas. It would behoove Miami to learn from that patient approach.