NBA Realities

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo has altered his shot selection during the first 32 games of the 2024-25 season. Bam is taking 19% of his shots from behind the arc averaging 2.6 per game. 

Adebayo’s three-point attempts have increased by 766.7% compared to the first 32 games of last season, as he averaged 0.3 per game. The decision to change Adebayo’s shot profile occurred when he was playing for Team USA in the Olympics. He shot 33% on 1.5 attempts per game in 6 outings. 

On October 2nd, 2024, he stated that his Olympic performance convinced head coach Erik Spoelstra to let him shoot threes this season.

“Sometimes I think seein’ is believing,” Adebayo said regarding Spoelstra’s realization. “And I think Spo seeing me — well being my development coach in the Olympics was kinda like, ‘Man, you can shoot 3s.’ Yeah, it kinda clicked a little bit, you know?”

Unfortunately, he is struggling from behind the arc, shooting 27.7%. Bam’s change in shot profile has contributed to the team’s better performance with him on the bench. The team is shooting 45.5% on 61.4 attempts in his 34.5 minutes per game this season. Miami is shooting 1%  better during his 14 minutes on the bench.

Although Bam’s desire to expand his range is admirable, the Heat doesn’t need him to become a stretch five long-term. Miami already has a big man on the roster who is more consistent with the three-point shot than Adebayo. 

Kel’el Ware is a better shooter

Rookie Kel’el Ware took 19.2% of his shots from behind the arc in two seasons with the University of Indiana, averaging 1.5 per game. He converted 33.7% of his attempts. Ware has increased his three-point attempts since arriving in the NBA. He is taking 26.7% of his shots from behind the arc, averaging 3.5 per game in 17 outings. He is 43.8%  from behind the arc.

How Ware allows the Miami Heat to optimize Bam Adebayo 

Kel’el Ware’s shooting ability indicates that Miami should put him in the starting lineup alongside Adebayo. Spoelstra has increased the number of picks and possessions in his offense this season. They are 9th in pick-and-roll possessions, averaging 19 per game, a 25% increase from last season. 

Adebayo has excelled as the pick-and-roll man. Before this season, he was a roll man on 18.9% of his possessions, averaging 2.8 per game. He averaged 3.2 points, shooting 58.5% on 2.3 attempts per game.

If Miami were to start with both big men together, they would optimize Adebayo and have a stretch five on the floor at the same time.  Both players have not shared the floor, often accumulating 1 minute of game time across nine outings. 

Inserting Ware into the starting lineup would also help Miami’s defense. Ware’s presence would allow Adebayo to guard the opponent’s best perimeter player. During his career, Bam has held guards and forwards to 43.5% shooting on 10 attempts per game. 

 Bam’s ability to guard perimeter players more often would help the team’s defense. Forwards are averaging 57 points, shooting 47% vs. Miami this season on 45.2 attempts per game, the 10th highest in the league.

Forwards account for 52.1% of the points vs Miami, as they have given up 109.3 per game in 32 outings. Bam has only guarded a forward 32.2% of the time this season, averaging 22.5 partial possessions per game.