There is a perception that the Miami Heat organization views Bam Adebayo as an untouchable asset. According to Zach Lowe of ESPN, the team refused to include Bam Adebayo in any potential trade because they believe he is a franchise pillar.
“It came out yesterday that they would like to take a run at Bam Adebayo. That was met with laughter from the front offices of the Miami Heat, who are not going to trade a step-back kind of trade, let alone one involving Bam Adebayo, who they consider a franchise pillar who has proven himself a playoff winner for a team that has made two Finals in four years and has a superstar entering the back-end of his prime.”
Bam Adebayo vs centers
Miami’s perception of Bam Adebayo is confusing, given his offensive issues. Adebayo is less effective against centers because he has a history of avoiding contact. For example, Bam Adebayo brought the ball up the count early in the first quarter of a road game against the Bucks.
Bam Adebay kept moving up the floor until he got to the right elbow and saw Brook Lopez standing in between him and the basket. Lopez’s presence led him to initiate a dribble handoff with Gabe Vincent.
Fortunately for Bam Adebayo, he faces a more positionally diverse defensive coverage during the regular season. Bam was guarded by centers 44.6 percent of the time last regular season. He shot 51.9 percent against centers on 8.1 shot attempts per game.
Adebayo vs forwards
When a center wasn’t guarding Bam Adebayo, forwards usually picked up the responsibility, as they defended him 36.9 percent of the time. Bam was much more efficient against forwards; he shot 54.4 percent on 6.8 attempts per game. The diverse defensive coverage enables Bam to get 7.7 touches in the paint. He thrived when he received the ball in the paint, shooting 61.2 percent on 4.8 attempts per game.
Unfortunately, the defensive coverage against Bam Adebayo significantly changed in the playoffs last season. Centers guarded him 63.1% of the time, averaging 46.2 partial possessions per game. Centers held him to 45.4% shooting on 10.3 attempts per game. The change in defensive strategy contributed to him being less effective in the paint, shooting 50% on 4.8 shots per game during 7.3 paint touches.
Adebayo’s dip in offensive efficiency around the rim becomes a bigger problem because he struggles outside of the paint. However, Bam has shot below 40% on less than 2 attempts outside of the paint throughout his career.
If Bam can’t rectify this problem, he should not be considered a franchise cornerstone because centers can easily diminish his impact.
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