As rest of NBA seeks next Adebayo, Heat may think big in draft
Until this past season, the Miami Heat weren’t quite sure what they had in Bam Adebayo. Then the No. 14 pick in the 2017 NBA draft helped lead them to the NBA Finals.
Now, it is as if the entire league is looking for Bam Adebayo 2.0 in Wednesday’s NBA draft — an agile, athletic, playmaking big man capable of defending at any position.
“But he’s unique for himself,” said Adam Simon, the Heat assistant general manager who is charge of the team’s draft. “We went up against a firstteam MVP-caliber big man in AD [Anthony Davis]. But every center is built differently. Whether it’s [Joel] Embiid or [Nikola] Jokic, [Rudy] Gobert. They bring different styles of play.”
Still, the flavor of the month appears to be Adebayo, at least according to one of the leading prospects at center in this year’s draft.
“I just want to be a player like Bam,” said Southern Cal freshman Onyeka Okongwu. “Bam’s my size, same athleticism. It took him a while to really be that All-Star player that he is in year three. I could definitely do that whole development process and be the type of player like Bam is.”
While the Heat are set at center with Adebayo, the loss to Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals raised question about the potential need for a bulky complement. There are plenty of those in this year’s draft, including Duke big man Vernon Carey Jr., the University School product who is the son of the former Miami Dolphins tackle.
“I think what you’re trying to do is we’re developing Bam to bring the best out of his game and build on his strengths, but we’re also going to try to surround him with players that we think will be needed to play any competition to get through four rounds of the playoffs,” Simon said of possibly drafting another big man, with the Heat holding the No. 20 selection.
“You have to have versatility. But also there’s great players, and then there are players that aren’t perfect, and you just try to bring different strengths on your roster.”
A breakdown at center in advance of the NBA draft.
Top 5
1. James Wiseman, 7-1, freshman, Memphis: The body is more impressive than the limited body of work at Memphis. Runs the floor superbly, but plenty of questions about the actual mechanics of the game on both sides of the floor.
2. Onyeka Okongwu, 6-9, Freshman Southern Cal: There have been some Bam Adebayo comparisons here, but also some to Hassan Whiteside when it comes to chasing blocked shots. Questions about the shooting form will have to be addressed, but a skill set suited for the modern NBA big man.
3. Aleksej Pokusevski, 7-0, 18-year-old, Serbia: The latest in the European lineage of lithe big men who move, cut, pass but don’t check the boxes of bulk or deterrence. Fits today’s open NBA style, but will have to learn to maximize length.
4. Isaiah Stewart, 6-9, freshman, Washington: It’s all about the muscle, with an aggressive interior approach that already should be up to NBA standards. The question is how much can be added from a skill standpoint.
5. Vernon Carey Jr, 6-10, freshman, Duke: A prospect arguably decades behind his time, with a body and game suited to a previous generation. The post presence is impressive on both ends, but it is the away-from-the-rim play that creates the uncertainty.
Sleeper
Udoka Azubuike, 7-0, junior, Kansas: We’ve got your project big man right here. An almost unstoppable interior force who now must learn to make free throws and upgrade the conditioning.
Rating the field
Do teams even draft centers anymore? Need centers anymore? This draft could answer the question when it comes to how high players such as Carey and Stewart go, or whether Okongwu becomes the archetype going forward.
Heat need
If the desire is to have bulk alongside Adebayo, then it could be as simple as re-signing Meyers Leonard or retaining Kelly Olynyk. And with Kyle Alexander in the pipeline, there doesn’t appear to be a need or reason to go big.