Bam Adebayo is the center for the Miami Heat, and there’s no doubt that he is a very unique defender. He can comfortably guard all 5 positions and is capable of executing a variety of defensive schemes.
A recent article by Couper Moorhead of NBA.com featured some words from P. J. Tucker about why Bam Adebayo should be the DPOY this season. Tucker pointed out that modern basketball requires a “center who can guard guards”.
“In this new era of basketball, being a center who can guard guards is key,” P.J. Tucker said. “It’s key to fixing a lot of things and being able to take people out of their offenses and making them do what you want them to do. That’s the key to defense.”
“You can’t be the Defensive Player of the Year if you can’t play in most fourth quarters. That’s insanity to me,” Tucker said, referencing how the game has changed with teams like Brooklyn playing Kevin Durant at the five in closing lineups. “Just look at fourth quarter lineups, that’s the game.”
There’s no question that Bam Adebayo should receive consideration for the award. The Miami Heat have a top-5 defense this season, and Bam Adebayo has played a large part in that happening. The Miami Heat have other good defenders such as P. J. Tucker and Jimmy Butler, but it is Bam Adebayo that anchors their defense. His defensive ability was one of the reasons that an NBA GM picked him as the 2nd best big man in the league behind Nikola Jokic.
The Miami Heat will need Bam Adebayo to keep playing defense at his current level or better in the upcoming playoffs if they are to make the NBA Finals. They notably got to the Finals in 2020 but ended up losing to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in 6 games. Perhaps we’ll see them make a deep playoff run this season, and they have a decent shot of winning the NBA championship.
