Did door just open for Heat’s Bam Adebayo to make a run for DPOY? Also, new guys still adjusting
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama was the clear favorite for this season’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. But with Wembanyama out for the rest of the season because of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, the race for the defensive honor is back on.
Wembanyama’s injury means he won’t reach the 65-game minimum to qualify for postseason awards, and whoever the new favorite is for the Defensive Player of the Year honor is less clear.
Heat center Bam Adebayo is among those who’s expected to receive Defensive Player of the Year consideration after finishing in third place for the award last season that went to Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert.
“That’s the media’s job, that’s not my job,” Adebayo said ahead of Friday night’s matchup against the Raptors in Toronto when asked if he felt that Wembanyama’s injury opens the door for him to make a run for the Defensive Player of the Year award this season. “My job is to go out there and play basketball. It’s always been that thing, and you all always ask me like I can control the media’s mind. But for me, man, it’s just going out there, getting stops, playing defense and having fun. And hopefully it starts to equate to winning.”
Prior to Wembanyama’s injury, he was the heavy betting favorite to win the defensive award this season in odds released earlier this week. According to BetOnline.ag, Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. had the second-best odds, Cleveland’s Evan Mobley had the third-best odds, Oklahoma City’s Lugentz Dort had the fourth-best odds, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had the fifth-best odds and Adebayo had the sixth-best odds.
Adebayo has never been selected as the Defensive Player of the Year, but he has been recognized as one of the league’s top defenders multiple times throughout his career. He was voted onto the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team in four straight seasons before being selected for the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team for the first time in his career last season.
Adebayo, 27, is the only player in franchise history to make one of the league’s All-Defensive teams in five different seasons while with the Heat.
Adebayo has established himself as one of the NBA’s best and most versatile defenders at 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds. Not only has he proven he can effectively guard every position on the court, but he also possesses a unique versatility to toggle between different defensive schemes from possession to possession and game to game based on what’s needed.
In fact, Adebayo ranks in the NBA’s 99th percentile for estimated defensive plus-minus this season.
But in order for Adebayo to win his first Defensive Player of the Year award this season, the Heat will need a very strong defensive finish to the season. Not only does the Heat return from the All-Star break to enter Friday’s game against the Raptors with an underwhelming 25-28 record, but the Heat also holds the NBA’s 10th-best defensive rating.
The last 17 Defensive Player of the Year award winners anchored teams with a top-five defensive rating. The last one who didn’t was center Marcus Camby, who earned the honor for the 2006-07 season as part of a Denver Nuggets defense that finished with the league’s 12th-ranked defensive rating.
“In my mind., I think I’m the best versatile defender in the league. That’s my take,” Adebayo said. “And like I said, whatever the media wants to select, that’s who they select. I’m not getting into the marketing of trying to get DPOY. If it happens, it happens.”
NEW ADDITIONS
The three players the Heat acquired in the Feb. 6 Jimmy Butler trade — Kyle Anderson, Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins — were with the team for just three games before the All-Star break. And Wiggins was held out of one of those games because of a stomach illness.
But following their midseason trade to the Heat, coaches and teammates have been impressed by how Anderson, Mitchell and Wiggins have approached the adjustment process.
“I feel like they’re embracing it, they’re embracing the culture, they’re embracing the standard,” Adebayo said. “They understand the majority of what we like to do and how we like to compete. I feel like they’ve embraced it. I feel like they’re up for the challenge. So it’s good to have three guys walking in trying to embrace the culture.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the team’s three trade additions have “assimilated very well.”
“They’re all pros,” Spoelstra said, with less than two months left in the regular season. “They’ve been in different systems before, so they’ve been able to fast track. And I think everybody is just excited about this sprint, this final stretch. This is the time of the year that everybody loves, the competitors really love it. Everything feels so much more intense. It’s a great time of season.”
INJURY REPORT
The Heat ruled out Josh Christopher (G League), Keshad Johnson (G League), Kevin Love (personal reasons), Dru Smith (left Achilles surgery) and Isaiah Stevens (G League) for Friday’s matchup against the Raptors in Toronto — the Heat’s first game after the All-Star break.
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 1:47 PM.
