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In the grand scheme of injury updates, “no idea” isn’t a particularly favorable one for Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat.
The big man first suffered a left hip contusion on October 28 as the Heat dropped a 106-90 contest to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He sat out periodically over the next month, missing games on October 30, November 22 and November 25 before playing against the Indiana Pacers on November 30. Unfortunately for the South Beach residents, he again exited the lineup at head coach Erik Spoelstra’s behest, logging just 12:28 of court time.
Miami needs Adebayo on the floor to build some positive momentum as it attempts to get back on track during a disappointing early portion of the 2023-24 NBA calendar, but his return date remains a complete unknown.
Bam Adebayo Himself Doesn’t Know When He’ll be Back
Adebayo, throwing up 22.3 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, will miss a second consecutive contest against the Toronto Raptors on December 6. Nothing is certain beyond that.
Asked if he could return two days later at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was noncommittal.
“I have no idea,” Adebayo said, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “This is new to me…to be on the sideline. I get re-evaluated when the team gets back from Toronto. We’ll have a conversation then.”
He did indicate that his hip is improving, but the Heat are limiting his on-court work.
“I haven’t started doing much basketball stuff; no contact. Everything else I’ve been doing, shooting and stuff like that, has been fine,” Adebayo explained. “The best thing for it is rest. That’s what I’ve been trying to do these past couple of days. Very boring. But this is the process.”
Adebayo’s Presence is Vital to the Heat
On the most basic level, Miami is 10-6 with Adebayo in the lineup and 1-3 without him.
The big man has been more aggressive than ever on the offensive end in 2023-24, averaging a career-best 22.3 points per game that leaves him just behind Jimmy Butler (22.4) and Tyler Herro (22.9) on the team leaderboard. But valuable as his scoring output has been, that part of his game is easier to replace, especially once Herro makes his return from an ankle sprain that has sidelined him since November 8.
Adebayo’s biggest impact comes on the defensive end, where his lateral mobility (sorely affected by a hip injury) and instincts allow him to thrive both as an interior deterrent and a help defender capable of switching onto virtually any assignment. Per Dunks & Threes’ defensive estimated plus-minus metric, his work on the preventing end has left him in the 94th percentile among all NBA players, and that’s even as he operated at less than full strength for a sustained stretch.
Throw in his passing skills, willingness to do the dirty work on both ends and floor-stretching ability as a big man who, per Basketball Reference, makes 49.4% of his shots from 10-16 feet and 40.6% of his looks from even deeper two-point territory, and his importance to Spoelstra’s schemes can’t be overstated.
Thomas Bryant, Orlando Robinson and the other internal options certainly aren’t capable of replicating his all-around impact, even if they can help stave off declines in smaller areas.
With an 11-9 record, the Heat currently reside at No. 7 in the Eastern Conference standings. If they want to surge up the pecking order in the near future, they’ll need Adebayo to gain some clarity on when he can put the uniform back on and start impacting the proceedings on both ends.
And that needs to be soon.
