Getty Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat.
Starting Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo may be having the best season of his career. He’s appeared in 40 of the team’s 45 games, playing 35.1 minutes each time. Adebayo is averaging career-high’s in both points per game, at 21.1, and rebounds per game at 10.1 while shooting 53.6% from the field.
Despite his career-season, Adebayo hasn’t been getting much respect or love around the league. For example, his name has not appeared amongst the top-10 of Eastern Conference frontcourt players in either of the All-Star voting returns so far.
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More recently, the Athletic’s John Hollinger threw some shade at the 25-year-old during the January 17 edition of the Dunc’d On Prime podcast with Duncan Smith.
Hollinger argued that Adebayo isn’t quite at the level of Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner.
“What is Bam’s case for being on the (All-Star) team ahead of Myles Turner?” He asked Smith.
“This year with a Myles Turner who’s actually aggressive and actually shoots, I think there’s a real case,” Hollinger pitched. “He’s been more durable, he’s been an elite rim-protector, he spaces the floor, which Bam doesn’t give you.”
Smith pushed back a bit arguing that Adebayo is better on both ends of the floor.
“Bam has been a guy that’s been very good at times in the playoffs, we haven’t seen that from Turner, he argued. “I just think they’re in the same class of player personally.”
Hollinger fired back, “So what, because Bam can iso for 15-foot twos, that gives him a leg up?” he asked. “I don’t think he’s had that great of a year, personally.”
The discussion was shared to the Miami Heat subreddit, and commenters were far from thrilled about Hollinger’s take.
One Redditor replied “This now 3 straight years of Hollinger hating on Heat players.”
Another chimed in, “What an idiot, Bam has been better than Turner in every facet this year and for the last 3 years. The Heat are also currently literally sitting with a better record than the Pacers even if not by much.”
Like Adebayo, Turner is having a career year. He’s appeared in 36 of the Indiana’s 45 games, playing 30 minutes each time. The seven-year veteran is averaging career-high’s in both points per game, at 17.4, and rebounds per game at 7.9, while shooting 55.6% from the field and 39% from beyond the arc.
Heat Have Shown Interest in John Collins: Source
There has been plenty of discussion this season about the need for Miami to bring in more size to help out Adebayo. A candidate that immediately comes to mind is John Collins of the Atlanta Hawks. Collins has been involved in trade rumors for most of his career, and this year is no different.
According to Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney, the Heat have had discussions with the Hawks about the 25-year-old.
“They had discussions with Atlanta about John Collins that have since gone dormant, a deal that would potentially send Duncan Robinson and Martin to the Hawks,” he reported.
Deveney went on to hint that the trade talks could pick back up again, but there is concern about how the two would fit together.
Miami Amongst ‘Most Engaged’ in Trade Talks for Nerlens Noel
Another player that’s been mentioned as a possible addition to Miami’s frontcourt is Nerlens Noel of the Detroit Pistons.
On January 15, the Atheltic’s James Edwards II reported that the Heat were amongst the “most engaged teams” in trade talks surrounding the former No. 6 overall pick.
“Per league sources, the teams most engaged in talks with the Pistons about Noel to date are the Miami Heat, Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks,” Edwards wrote.
Noel hasn’t played much for the Pistons this season, appearing in just 12 of the team’s 47 games so far, playing 11.8 minutes each time. He’s averaged 2.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game on 44.4% shooting from the field and 50% shooting from beyond the arc. If the Heat were to make a move for him, he likely wouldn’t cost much, and could hopefully be a serviceable back-up for Bam Adebayo.