It was a rough summer for the Miami Heat, who thought they were going to land future Hall-of-Fame point guard Damian Lillard, only to see him get traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.
When they also lost out on Jrue Holiday, whom the Bucks had sent to the Portland Trail Blazers to obtain Lillard, it was clear they were going to be counted out.
It is up to Miami’s returning players to develop in order for the team to make another deep run, and head coach Erik Spoelstra may feel big man Bam Adebayo is one of those who needs to step up.
He recently praised Adebayo while saying he has no ceiling, per SiriusXM NBA Radio.
"He continues to be a no ceiling guy"
🏀 #Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra on why the sky is the limit for Bam Adebayo #HEATTwitter #HeatCulture@MiamiHeat | @Bam1of1| @TheJaxShow https://t.co/IHMBxr3V1a pic.twitter.com/WmUjXzdyBG
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) October 16, 2023
Adebayo is one of the NBA’s more intriguing players, as he’s a center who can handle the ball, take guys off the dribble, and even set up teammates at times.
Last season, he averaged a career-high 20.4 points, plus 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game while earning his second All-Star bid.
Yet it seems he doesn’t get as much recognition as he perhaps deserves.
While Adebayo is a perennial contender for the Defensive Player of the Year award, he has never won it, and he hasn’t been named to an All-NBA team, at least not yet.
There have been reports that he has been working on his 3-point shot and that he plans to utilize it as a bigger part of his arsenal this season.
To this point of his career, Adebayo has never shot over 25.0 percent from 3-point range for a season, nor has he attempted more than 0.2 treys per game in a season.
NEXT: Tyler Herro Talks His Expectations For This Season
