Bam Adebayo’s regression has hurt the Heat

When Bam Adebayo made Team USA’s 12-man roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics, it meant that Jaren Jackson Jr., Chet Holmgren, Evan Mobley and many other talented bigs were snubbed.

Adebayo justified his selection with steady production off the bench, backing up and playing alongside Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis in certain lineups. Shortly after winning his second Olympic gold medal, the Heat rewarded their 27-year-old big man with a three-year maximum contract extension.

Going into the 2024-25 season, Adebayo was ready to take the next step in his development, especially as a goalscorer. So far, the opposite has happened.

Adebayo is averaging his fewest points (16.1) since the 2019-20 season while shooting a career-low 45 percent from the field. Even more troubling, Adebayo’s defense, his calling card since his collegiate career at Kentucky, has regressed significantly from last season. Adebayo reaches 48th in defensive win/shares after finishing among the best in most defensive metrics a year ago that he received for third majority votes for Defensive player of the year.

Another metric that highlights Adebayo’s regression is his on/off stats. After ending in top three in plus/minus in each of the last four seasons, the Kentucky alum has the worst plus/minus (0.0) among all Heat starters this season.

When the Heat blew a 17-point lead against the Kings on Monday, Adebayo shot 6-of-19 from the floor and was outscored by Domantas Sabonis, who came away with 18 boards, including a pair of offensive rebounds, in the two. overtime periods. The feat came just 48 hours after he shot 0-of-6 in one 36 point loss to Utah.

It was pretty jarring that Adebayo, a player known for leaving it all on the floor, was outworked in back-to-back games by his matchups, namely Walker Kessler and Sabonis.

For years, Adebayo was positioned to take the reins from Jimmy Butler as the Heat’s next franchise star. Perhaps his regression as a player has prompted the Heat to pause.