Predicting when every member of the Heat’s starting 5 might leave

Bam Adebayo

Contract: Two more years at $34.8 million next season and $37 million in 2025-26.

Age: 26

Bam Adebayo was named team captain before last season and has built himself into the Heat’s franchise player. Ask anyone around the team about 13, and everyone sings his praises.

Adebayo is extension eligible this summer but it might be smarter for him to wait until next year to sign an extension. He is eligible to sign a three-year, $165 million deal this summer but that could become a four-year, supermax deal next summer if he wins Defensive Player of the Year or is named to an All-NBA team next season. Both scenarios are plausible enough that Bam should wait a year.

If he does and signs a four-year contract, that new extension would keep him in Miami through 2030. He’ll be 32 then. When does Adebayo retire? 35? 36? Either way, Bam is a Heat lifer. He can anchor any defense, fit with any star, and is the foundation for the next iteration of Miami Heat basketball – whenever and whatever that is.

Prediction for when Adebayo leaves: When he retires