Heat’s Bam Adebayo contract somehow just got even better
The Miami Heat may not have made a single move during the first few hours of NBA Free Agency, but their value in negotiating a contract extension with Bam Adebayo last summer certainly improved. After the big contract that Jaren Jackson Jr. got from the Memphis Grizzlies, the Heat should be thankful for their preemptive work with Bam’s contract last summer.
In short, after JJJ’s extension, Heat fans should feel a lot better about Bam’s extension.As the first big move in free agency, the Memphis Grizzlies signed JJJ to a five-year, $240 max extension. His extension will put him right on par with Bam’s three-year, $160 extension that he inked with the Heat last offseason. Considering what both Bam and JJJ bring to the table as players, the Heat should feel as if they got a contract steal.
Bam continues to be an underratd star
Even though Bam doesn’t get the same level of notoriety as JJJ, and he certainly doesn’t get that respect when it comes to Defensive Player of the Year voting, I’d argue that the former is a better and more impactful player than the latter.Both have similar limitations as a No. 1 or 2 option on the offensive end of the floor, but Bam has proven that in a specific supporting role, he’s more effective as a player than JJJ. In fact, Bam was an instrumental part as a second or third option for Miami when they made both NBA Finals runs with Jimmy Butler.
And there’s a strong argument to be made that if Bam (and Goran Dragic) doesn’t get hurt in that NBA Finals run in 2020 that the Heat may win that series against the Los Angeles Lakers. And had the Heat won a championship that season, the narrative surrounding Bam would be significantly different.It’s hard to predict what may lie ahead for the Heat heading into the remainder of the offseason, but it’s clear that there’s at least one specific player on the roster that Miami should feel good about – Bam. He’s locked up for the foreseeable future and has quietly become the face of the franchise.
