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Bam Adebayo, center/forward for the Miami Heat, is one of the more unique players in the NBA. The star quality is there, and with a tough roster to teach him in the trenches, Bam Adebayo is on the verge of becoming a major NBA star.
Yet, with maturity also comes the wisdom of talent. Bam Adebayo is talented and in that maturity there is also growth. What does Bam Adebayo need to do to become great, and also make his team great?
Bam Adebayo - The Star
The 6'9" center/forward out of Kentucky was the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, and is lauded for his immense versatility. He and Jimmy Butler are the only two players in NBA history to record triple-doubles in the same game multiple times.
Bam Adebayo has 5 career triple-doubles, and that number, when he's reflecting on his career down the road, will definitely rise. At 24, he's an NBA All-Star, an Olympian gold medalist, is an All-NBA defender and has appeared in the NBA Finals.
He affects games being he's so unique in how he moves on the floor. You can't miss him out there on either end, and only time will tell how successful Bam Adebayo will become as he develops offensively.
For now, I'd say the Miami Heat are content with how Bam is growing in the game, and it's a scary thought that Bam is nowhere near his ceiling.
Defense
Bam Adebayo has the length, size and agility to get to most balls at the rim. His tenacity on defense and strong hands -- combined with a 7'11" wingspan -- sees him as the perfect rim protector.
A prototype in this era, his defensive stats are right there with the best in the NBA. His defensive rating of 108.3 ranks 8th, TPA of 207.01 is 15th, and Bam Adebayo is in the top ten with 3.2 defensive win shares and a defensive box plus-minus of 1.9.
He should have been a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year with Rudy Gobert and Ben Simmons, yet that he wasn't should provide the necessary shoulder chips to become even better defensively.
Improving offensively
Bam Adebayo's scoring output has increased every season as expected, and in his fourth season averaged 19 points a game, yet for the Miami Heat to return to the NBA Finals, Adebayo must continue that scoring upward trend.
The addition of Kyle Lowry will give him and Jimmy Butler more offensive opportunities. and while Bam Adebayo is an excellent defender, offensively his game is limited. Yet he has so much room to grow.
You'll see breakout games here and there where Adebayo is over 30 points, yet those games will only matter regarding Adebayo if consistency becomes his truth.
He shot the ball at a .570 clip last season, and while Bam Adebayo is a unique player who doesn't have to dominate the box to win games, having a few go-to moves will only serve a Miami Heat offensive balance.
Bam Adebayo is doing his thing, yet fans of the NBA want to fast forward to the completion of his game to celebrate the finished product. Goodness, what will that resemble?
Assert yourself Bam
In young, talented players with a passion to win that supercedes everything else in the boxscore, there is sometimes a passiveness to stamp an offensive will on the game.
Bam Adebayo, in his development, often looks to pass instead of dominating the man guarding him. He's a willing passer that is good at passing the ball, yet should attack the rim whenever he can.
A 24-year old defender masked as an offensive center because he can score has to be willing to be selfish. That selfishness is selflessness because it helps the team win. As the 3rd scoring option with the aforementioned addition of Lowry, look for Bam Adebayo to become more of a scoring option this season with a midrange game of his own.
Becoming an erstwhile veteran
It's the little things that make an athlete realize his/her potential. Living in your 20's is much different than the life of a 30-something NBA superstar. That 30-year old superstar is in Bam's future as an inevitability. One can only imagine the tempered wisdom Kyle Lowry, PJ Tucker and Jimmy Butler will impart on the phenom.
To bring it all together and become a player with an immense legacy, Bam Adebayo must realize his prominence and dominate no matter the competition. His competition realizes how good a young player Bam Adebayo is, and once Bam uses that respect to his advantage and becomes relentless on the scoring end as well, the NBA is in big trouble.
He and Tyler Herro are currently the faces of Miami Heat's future potential, and as Bam Adebayo settles in and becomes an NBA veteran, all he has to do is shoot the ball more to one day be mentioned as a league-wide MVP candidate.
Bam, will you get there?
Guess the Lakers players!
