Miami Heat rookie center Bam Adebayo has been serviceable for his team, while filling in for the spot temporarily left by teammate Hassan Whiteside to nurse a knee injury.

Whiteside has made his way back into active duty during Tuesday’s convincing 107-89 win at home over the Orlando Magic, but Adebayo has shown enough to warrant getting a decent amount of minutes even with Whiteside back in action. Over the last 14 games, Adebayo averaged 8.5 points and 5.7 rebounds.

While he’s not as adept of a scorer as Whiteside, Adebayo has become a valuable asset for the Heat because of his defense, particularly his versatility to take on smaller players on the defensive end of the ball. When asked about his ability to keep in step with quicker players, Adebayo gave credit to his genes and his experience of practicing with a guard-laden AAU squad.

“Genetics? I guess that’s how you can put it,” Adebayo said today before delving deeper into the question.

“Our AAU team when I was younger was packed with a lot of guards. … We had a whole bunch of guys that grew up to be big-name point guards (including Dallas rookie Dennis Smith Jr.). Guarding that every day in practice as a 12-, 13-, 14-year old you develop habits.”

There is so much room for improvement for the 6-foot-10 Kentucky product, whom the Heat selected 14th overall in this year’s draft. Based on what Miami is seeing in their first-year center, their defense is only bound to get even tougher in the years to come as Adebayo continues to mature and develop.

Adebayo is putting up 6.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game this season.