While Chet Holmgren aspires for example and in all simplicity to be the best player in the League in the next two months, Bam Adebayo for his part plans to finally glean a title of defender of the year. Better yet, the Heat pivot says, the DPOY next year will be him and no one else. Ambitious certainly, but if it’s to gratify us with even more big cons on the truffle of Jayson Tatum and company, we don’t say no!
Slender, very mobile and ultra-athletic, good old Bam Adebayo has absolutely everything a modern defender has to offer. Freak par excellence, the Florida pivot also has a lot of intelligence on the floor. Pretty handy for playing in the biggest basketball league in the world, isn’t it? However, everything suggests that these different assets may not be enough to afford the coveted title of defender of the year. Besides, and if you still doubt it, ask Scottie Pippen, he will surely tell you much better than us… In any case, one thing is certain, well no: two things are certain. The first, Bam Adebayo is not (yet) Scottie Pippen, and the second, Bam Adebayo is not happy. Because yes, while there is no doubt that the Heat’s number 13 is an elite defender in the NBA, the individual awards to prove it are struggling to follow at the moment. A situation that the interior does not understand, as he explained to the microphone of Ira Winderman for the Sun Sentinel.
“I should have won it (the DPOY) the last two seasons and I will win it this year”
At least Bam will have been warned. In the race for the Grail during the two previous exercises, Bam Adebayo will finally have returned empty-handed. While Marcus Smart is the latest winner and Rudy Gobert has absolutely no more room on his shelf, Adebayo has not even managed to climb on a step of the podium for the two seasons mentioned. Beyond even climbing into the three finalists, the Nigerian-born pivot has never been selected in the All-NBA First Defensive Team. A hard blow when aiming for the DPOY you will agree. But hey, as it obviously takes a lot more for the colossus to let himself down, expect an elite season on both sides of the floor for the pivot of Miami.
By the way, did someone tell you that there is a world in which Bam Adebayo… is no longer a Heat player next season (so this is the multiverse)? And yes, our friend Bam has all the perfect currency for a trade with… Kevin Durant, and with rumors of the Nets’ two UFOs flying all over the place in recent weeks, it’s no longer unlikely that Adebayo will be included in a package heading to Brooklyn.
While waiting to see if Bam can really join the DPOY race next season, the pivot will now have to prove that he can defend his interests as well as an NBA racket. As he comes out of a generally successful 2022 exercise individually, in double-doubles with 19 points and 10 rebounds per game please, his future on the Miami side still seems uncertain at the moment. Everything in its time Bam.
Source texte : Sun Sentinel
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