Heat center Bam Adebayo faces a difficult path toward making an All-NBA team or earning Defensive Player of the Year honors, which would qualify him for a super-max contract that would be the richest in franchise history, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Either achievement would make Adebayo eligible for a four-year extension this summer that would pay up to $245MM. Otherwise, his extension would be capped at three years and $152MM.
The league has changed its all-NBA structure so that the team is now positionless, meaning the top 15 vote-getters will be honored regardless of where they play. Jackson notes that under the old rules, Adebayo would have a decent chance at landing one of the three center spots, considering that Joel Embiid will miss the 65-game requirement and Anthony Davis and Kristaps Porzingis aren’t guaranteed to reach that mark either. Now Adebayo is competing with the entire league after ranking 27th overall in All-NBA balloting last season.
Adebayo is given the sixth-best odds for DPOY by Draft Kings and Fanduel, Jackson points out. Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert is seen as the clear favorite for that honor as the anchor for one of the league’s top defensive teams.
Jackson states that Adebayo turned down a two-year, $97MM extension last summer in hopes of qualifying for the super-max. His current contract runs through 2025/26.
There’s more on the Heat:
- There was no reunion with Kyle Lowry in the Heat’s Wednesday win at Philadelphia, Jackson writes in a separate story. The former Miami point guard signed with his hometown Sixers after reaching a buyout with Charlotte, but he won’t join the team until after the All-Star break.
- Miami is expected to fill its 15-man roster opening soon to avoid reaching the 90-game combined limit for its players on two-way contracts, Jackson adds.
- Haywood Highsmith is grateful to have basketball as an escape as he deals with the aftermath of last week’s auto accident that left a man hospitalized, per Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. “Basketball is my peace,” Highsmith said. “I wanted to get back with my teammates and my coaches, to be around them, so they can get my energy up. Obviously, it hasn’t been the easiest week or so for me, but I’m just taking it day by day, and being around my team has been very helpful. Being around my family, the coaching staff, everybody, has been very helpful. So the Heat culture, Heat family had my back, so I appreciate that.”
- Bucks coach Doc Rivers was impressed by Miami’s ability to cultivate young talent after Jaime Jaquez and Nikola Jovic led the Heat to a win at Milwaukee Tuesday night, Winderman notes in another Sun Sentinel story. “Jaquez, I mean, he’s the perfect fit for who they are and how they want to be,” Rivers said. “You know, it’s funny, I think certain guys actually target them, ‘Man, I’d fit in this system.’ Utah did that for years with Jerry Sloan. They kept doing it. And Miami’s doing it. But it’s more about their system and how they play, and how they target. But both of those guys are fun to watch.”
I really don’t understand using the word anchor to describe the leader of a defence. I’ve seen it used a bunch the last few years and it’s never made any sense to me.
An anchor sounds like something that drags you down or keeps you in place. How is that a positive quality on defence?
It makes more sense if you think of offense and defense in a classical war setting. Soldiers on the offense attempt to push back the opponent. Soldiers on defense (generally standing at the border for their country) attempt to not be pushed back. In that environment, being strongly entrenched in one spot is exactly what the defense wants to be.
That concept has been adapted to a lot of other areas including sports, but the idea is basically always the same. A strong person that prevents things (opposing teams, challenges in life, etc…) from forcing you backwards.
Football is the sport where the phrase probably makes the most sense. If the defense does their job, everyone is staying in the same spot for a long time. I agree with you that in basketball, the expression is very awkward.
One definition of anchor: “a person or thing that provides stability or confidence in an otherwise uncertain situation.”
Jaquez has really come back to earth and looking more like the high floor, low ceiling prospect he was pegged. Inefficient and not athletic. He’s now shooting sub 50 and only 32 from deep with a 12 PER. That’s low end bench.
The talent is there. He’s playing big minutes and hitting the rookie wall. The AS break will give him a chance for a breather.
You really don’t know what you are talking about. He’s coming off an injury. In a redraft he goes in the top 10. He’s a rookie and is 3rd in minutes played per game by rookies.