Heat big man Bam Adebayo intends to sign a three-year contract extension, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press reports (Twitter link). It’ll be a maximum-salary extension, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Adebayo has two years left on his contract. He’s due to make $34,848,340 next season and $37,096,620 in 2025/26. The extension would take the 26-year-old through the 2028/29 season. He can sign the deal on July 6, by league rule, according to Reynolds.
Adebayo averaged 19.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game this past season. His value goes well beyond offensive numbers. The Heat star has made the NBA’s All-Defensive team in each of the last five seasons, earning a First Team selection for the first time in 2023/24.
Adebayo could have waited until next offseason with the hope of making an All-NBA team or winning Defensive Player of the Year. In that scenario, he would have become eligible for a five-year super-max extension worth as much as $346MM, cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (Twitter link).
Assuming a $141MM cap in 2024/25, with 10% raises in each of the next two seasons, Adebayo would earn a $51,183,000 in 2026/27; $55,277,640 in ’27/28; and $59,372,280 in ’28/29, for a total of $165,832,920.
While those salary numbers are eye-popping, Adebayo could have been eligible for even bigger salaries had he delayed an extension with the aim of making an All-NBA team, so this could turn out to be a team-friendly deal. Adebayo, who turns 27 next month, has spent his entire seven-year career with Miami.
Best defensive center in the league.
That’s a s t r e t c h stretch.
Not so fast my friend… link to m.youtube.com
Rudy exists but Bam is also very great.
Rudy can’t guard pick and roll, and has to be replaced in certain matchups, and Bam also has some better individual matchup numbers against guys he’s guarding, though Gobert is obviously amazing and leads in other categories
I’d say Bam is easily the most versatile defensive Center. He’s been holding the Heat’s defense together despite being the smallest starting 5 in the league for how many years now? While being productive and efficient on offense?
Idk if I’d necessarily say he’s the best, but he’s up there. At minimum you have to have him in the conversation.
Ya, draymond green, Anthony Davis, Evan Mobley, Myles Turner, jaren Jackson jr are right there. Al horford, nic claxton among others
Yeah it really comes down to what your preference is/what the team needs. As a pure shot-blocker and rim protector Bam is probably not amongst the first choices. But if you’re building a switchable defense he’s gotta be right there with Draymond. There’s maybe a dozen players in the league that can guard 1-5 and you wouldn’t be instantly sending a double team or help/switch defender and Bam is one of those guys.
Good… but not really the best, right?
With the new media rights deal, salaries are about to go through the roof. Thankful to have the culture locked up for 5 full year’s
Which of THESE NC legends would you rather have on your team if you could have them for their whole careers… Bam Adebayo, James Worthy, John Wall, Bob McAdoo, David Thompson, Brandon Ingram, Chris Paul or Brad Daugherty? Rank a top5 if possible… link to m.youtube.com
Bob McAdoo. That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. What a beast. Him, Paul, Worthy, Adebayo. The rest of them all have had too many injuries. Thompson had the best peak, but his peak lasted like five years and he was a shell of himself afterwards. I guess him at #5. Wall had the longest career but spent more time on the sidelines than on the court. Daugherty is one of my all-time favorite players, but he’s not on Thompson’s level, and Wall was truly great at his best, so he’s behind them.. Ingram last, no question. Scoring only, good as he is, isn’t enough when the rest were more versatile. Especially since he’s only eclipsed 65 games once, as a rookie.
I gotta disagree about BI being one dimensional. He’s extremely versatile. I don’t really factor in injuries as much as you do but I dig your top5 no doubt.
As a very young Celtics fan I remember McAdoo being unstoppable.
Bro…don’t do this to me; I’m abstaining…
(Chris Paul), Bam (still has a lot left to do obviously), big game james, Bob mcadoo (though i think who else i have could influence that order), David Thomspon, Brandon Ingram, John Wall…
Yea I can dig what you say about the makeup of the rest of the team determining who’d you want most. I think I’d prob go with Paul 1st as well but you can’t go wrong with any of those guys
Yo while you’re here…I know you’ve done your draft stuff…I’m behind forseveral reasons…who are some 2/3s, 4/3s, or 2 way combo guards that don’t need the ball in theirnhands/can shoot in that 15 range, and are those guys I’m talking about just in the 20s-30s
Why are some of these guards ranked so high also…some of them are undersized or not very dimensional
Tristan da Silva is your man Forms , but do me a favor and pass so we can take him at 17 please !
I think you guys go pg tho honestly and take McCain , that’s actually my first choice for lakers too
Both really good players that can shoot and have heat culture in them imo – Silva little old but nba ready and McCain a one and done if timeline is an issue – Silva is a 3/4 , slight tweener ( possible issues ) but with the shooting I think he can compensate for that especially w Bam having his back behind hiim
If I’m Mia I’m choosing the best pg available, Collier/Rob/McCain/DCarter in that order. Getting any of those guys at 15 would be great value imo. If you want a bigger wing I’d def grab Terrence Shannon Jr if he’s still there. He’s a born scorer & he’s a dog defensively as well. Melvin Ajinca & Pacome Dadiet, both from France, are 2 bigger wings that could work too. Ajinca in particular is a guy that I like a lot. I 1st saw him last yr when he was leading France to the gold medal at the u19 World Cup. He outplayed Risacher & Sarr everytime I saw them play, including in both medal rd games (vs USA & Spain). Risacher is a better shooter & is taller but Ajinca might be better in every other way tbh.
Which guards do you feel are being overrated? I sorta feel like they are the strength of the draft & that if ppl looked a lil closer at the strength of this pg class there wouldn’t be as much “weak draft” talk
I just am not a fan of certain guard skillsets in today’s nba without another few teams in expansion…
Bam, Butler and Herro are truly terrifying. Oh, so frightening,
It’s a NY thing Bam ……. don’t cry
Great value contract for someone who gives max effort on both sides of the court….. Bam still needs a lot of work on his shot though.
He’s easily the most versatile defensive player in the NBA …. can guard all positions and switch as easily – this is something that is often overlooked (unlike blocked shots) by most who follow the NBA.