The Miami Heat are facing, what some might say, a complete disaster. They not only sit 9th in the East but are also caught up in a very public feud with superstar Jimmy Butler. And to compound their misery, star center Bam Adebayo, who was coming off a 3rd place finish in DPOY voting and an Olympic Gold Medal, has not taken the step up that fans and analysts expected him to take. Kendrick Perkins, who has a lot of faith in Adebayo, seems confused with the All-Star’s season so far.
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He tweeted about Adebayo’s decline, claiming he expected him to “take a serious leap” this year, but his numbers have been lower than last year. “What the hell is wrong with Bam [Adebayo] I thought this would be the year for him to take a serious leap but that has not been the case,” he wrote.
What the hell is wrong with Bam. I thought this would be the year for him to take a serious leap but that has not been the case.
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 24, 2025
Adebayo is actually registering career lows for field goal percentage, which is a troubling sign for the Heat’s 2nd best option. A career 54.9% shooter from the floor, Bam is registering a worrying 49.8% this season. The number is still good, no doubt, but with Butler on his way out, the Heat need Bam to be much better than what he is right now.
His 3.1 win shares are also a career low for the 3x All-Star and his plus-minus of 0.5 is the lowest it’s been since his rookie campaign. To compound his misery, a 22.5% usage rate is the lowest since the 2019-20 season. The Heat are a marginally worse offensive team with him on the floor, and his contributions on defense aren’t enough to cover that deficiency.
Fans have speculated that rookie Kel’el Ware’s rapid rise has affected Adebayo’s minutes, and his ability to affect games. Unfortunately for the Heat, with Butler’s ongoing trade drama hogging the limelight for the time being, it’s really hard to tell what is causing Bam’s regression.
Is the Jimmy Butler drama affecting Bam Adebayo?
In all honesty, there’s no way to know what has impacted Adebayo this season. He could just be reacting negatively to Butler’s attempts to move on from Miami. The two are close friends after all and just the intense scrutiny around the team right now could be the reason the center lost focus.
Additionally, Bam was an important rotational player in the Olympics. After a grueling NBA season, during which he played 71 games, and an equally taxing summer in Paris, it could also be fatigue. The All-Star break could serve as a reprieve for him, and he might just turn his season around.
Another thing to look forward to for Bam is the possibility of a change in position. At 6’9″, he’s an undersized center, and constantly guarding guys bigger than him can take a toll. With Ware’s exceptional rise in his rookie year, the Heat could consider experimenting with a frontcourt featuring the two of them, which would see Bam play the 4.
It could lead to better performances from him, seeing as he’d be bigger than most power forwards across the league, and with Ware’s dynamic physical threat, we could see Bam Adebayo get back to his All-Star best.
