Is efficiency holding Bam back?

In the summer of 2017, Hassan Whiteside had just completed his first year of a four-year max contract with the Miami Heat, led the league in rebounding, had career highs in games played, games started, minutes, and points, and anchored the Heat to a sensational 30-11 record in the second half of the season. With the NBA draft coming up and the 14th pick in their arsenal, you’d be erroneous to think that the Heat were in need of a new center, and yet with said pick, selected Bam Adebayo out of Kentucky. At the time, Bam was a raw talent filled with athleticism and defensive potential that intrigued the Heat’s front office. During his first two years with the Heat Adebayo worked extensively with the Heat’s acclaimed development team and Udonis Haslem to mould his game and try to realise that potential. It was towards the end of that second year that Bam solidified himself as the Heat’s starting center going forward, and simultaneously started the beginning of the end for Whiteside in South Florida. The 2019-20 season was Bam’s breakout year. He became a national name, was selected to his first All-Star game – winning the skills challenge on a historical Saturday night in Heat All-Star history - and was selected to the All-Defensive Second Team. Plus there was THAT block on Tatum in the bubble. Perhaps one for another day, but who knows what might have happened had Bam (and Dragić) been fit for the entire finals series against the Lakers. Sigh.

The 2020-21 season was a good one for Adebayo. More of a ‘consolidating your position as an elite big’ type of season than anything too explosive. Bam was among the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year, while taking and making more shots, more free throws, and more assists as he established himself as a leader. It was undoubtedly a great season for Adebayo, but going forward, his role on the Heat will need to adapt. It seems odd to criticise a player for being ‘too efficient’ considering that metric holds so much weight in terms of scouting and analysis, but that was what Bam was last year. In games that he could, and should, have taken by the scruff of the neck, he often didn’t. Looking to facilitate and be a team guy seemed to be of importance to him, which it must be said, is not a bad thing. Through 72 games last term, he averaged 18.7 PPG on 12.5 attempts, and 5.5 attempts from the charity stripe, while shooting 57% and 79% respectively. During those 72 games, Bam totalled 800 shot attempts. 85% of those came from within 14 feet of the basket. Just 13% were taken from mid-range. Bam’s mid-range game is often a topic of conversation among Heat fans and media outlets, and rightly so. Bam’s form and ball handling skills translate perfectly to being able to regularly hit spot-up and pull-up mid-range jumpers. Extending his range and the regularity with which he takes those shots will be a big factor in both his and Miami’s successes this coming year. Bam’s aim for this year then, must be to take those shots with more aggression, and the Heat will want that too. On a recent episode of Duncan Robinson’s podcast, Max Strus eluded to how he once went 0-8 from three, but was flummoxed to be greeted with encouragement and praise from Heat staff when he went back to the bench. The staff didn’t care that he missed the shots, they cared that he had the confidence to take them. As with Bam’s mid-range, having the confidence to take those shots is the biggest part of making them, because soon enough, they will fall. Take a look at the confidence that Bam showed on that buzzer-beating, mid-range, game winner against the Nets. That is what the Heat want, confidence in his own ability to take the game into his hands and make winning plays. He won’t always make those game winning shots, but to quote Michael Scott, quoting Wayne Gretzky, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

With the addition of Kyle Lowry, the necessity for Bam to facilitate will be reduced with Lowry expected to share primary ball-handling duties with Jimmy Butler. This should allow Bam to focus more on his offensive game; gaining confidence in his jumper, driving with more frequency and aggression, and not being afraid to miss. Bringing down his efficiency might have some short term implications, but will benefit his game long term and add more facets to an already multi-faceted game. While signing a 35 year old to a three year deal has its risks, you only need to look to Chris Paul’s impact on Deandre Ayton’s game in Phoenix this past year to understand the scale of the potential upside of this signing for the Heat. Lowry’s relationship with Butler and Adebayo is one that the three of them will constantly push each other to strive for greatness, and both Lowry and Butler will be pushing Bam to be the main guy. He was dubbed as ‘the heart and soul of the team’ by Butler, after all.

The ‘chip on the shoulder’ steely determination that is instilled in Heat culture, runs through Adebayo with ferocity. And that ferocity has only been intensified by being snubbed for Defensive Player of the Year last term, let alone being shunted down to All-Defensive Second Team after being a top 3 DPOY candidate almost all season long. You would then expect Bam to at least be in the All-Defensive First Team come season’s end, and almost certainly be considered for the Defensive Player of the Year award again. It’ll be the offensive side of Bam’s game, and his confidence in it, that will determine whether he can make an All-NBA team, and whether he can lead the Heat to a fourth championship banner in FTX Arena.

*statistics from basketball-reference.com/ and nba.com/stats/