Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo is currently dealing with an injured hip that keeps him out for the foreseeable future. While it originally wasn't dealt as serious, Adebayo himself said to the media Tuesday after practice that he doesn't know when he'll be able to return according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
“I have no idea,” Adebayp said. “This is new to me.. to be on the sideline. I get re-evaluated when the team gets back from Toronto. We’ll have a conversation then.”
The Heat star does reveal what his activity level has been like since re-injuring the hip in last Thursday's game against the Indiana Pacers. Adebayo would get banged in the hip in the first half of the aforementioned Pacers game and wouldn't return in the second half.
“I haven’t started doing much basketball stuff, no contact,” Adebayo said. “Everything else I’ve been doing, shooting and stuff like that, has been fine. The best thing for it is rest. That’s what I’ve been trying to do these past couple of days. Very boring. But this is the process.”
Adebayo was in the midst of a career-best season where he was averaging a little more than 23 points and over 10 rebounds per game.
Heat have to take it slow with Adebayo
Miami announced via their X (formerly known as Twitter) account last Saturday that Adebayo would not travel to Toronto for their next game against the Raptors and will be considered “day-to-day” after. His next opportunity after that would be Friday as the Heat return home to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the question for the team is if they want to rush Adebayo back on the court if he isn't 100 percent.
Again, this isn't the first time the University of Kentucky product has missed a game because of a left hip contusion. If he keeps getting hit in the same spot, he's prone to getting a worse injury in that area.
However, Adebayo sets the record straight as saying that the process has been “baby steps, haven’t gotten that far” per Jackson. When the star big-man originally got injured, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game that it wasn't serious and said Adebayo heals fast.
“It’s not, thankfully, something serious,” Spoelstra said. “It’s just you play competitive NBA basketball, you get hit, you’re jumping and you’re twisting, all that stuff. He heals fast, so we’ll continue to treat him and see where we are.”
Filling in for Adebayo on Heat?
These upcoming couple of games where Adebayo will be absent, the other big-men on the roster such as Kevin Love, Thomas Bryant, and Orlando Robinson will have to provide exceptional minutes. None of them can recreate the defensive presence and offense the star can, but each can produce to Spoelstra's liking.
“It's not our first time, so we feel comfortable about our front-court depth. It'll look a little bit different which is what we like about our depth. Each guy brings something a little bit different, and they've all proven that they've been able to impact games already to help us win,” Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints. “The game that you know, bam, missed in Cleveland, we got some great front-court play you know, from our bigs and it may be a little bit different tonight. These guys played super small and in some of their lineups. So we just have to figure it out and just make an impact for whatever minutes they have in that spot.”
Robinson would be the best performer for the Heat as a big-man in the loss to Indiana Saturday as he scored 16 points and collected five rebounds in 29 minutes of action. After the game, he told the media that there is room for improvement and he's working on other facets of his game.
“I’m getting better,” Robinson said. “I’m trying to be an elite pick and roll defender. I don’t want to give up too much there but also want to protect the basket more; footwork wise in pick and roll, I’m trying to impact the ball, trying to slow down the guard and keep the roll behind me. I’m trying to do both. It’s very challenging. I want to be elite at that. That’s what I’m working on.”
Heat down players besides Adebayo
The 23-year old Robinson started the game in the loss and looks to keep that spot in Wednesday's game against the Raptors, but it's expected for Spoelstra to try different rotations. The coach mentioned after the game that he had the original plan to play all of his centers, but didn't because of game-script. Bryant didn't play a single minute of the game.
“I was thinking some of those minutes would be plug minutes. I planned on playing three centers,” Spoelstra said. “Once we couldn’t grab control of the game, we shortened the rotation. When we lose in this fashion, I’ll review some things.”
It'll be interesting to see how the Heat handles these different lineups as the team will not just miss Adebayo and Tyler Herro, but also Haywood Highsmith, who's been a regular stater for the team according to the team's X account.. That makes Miami down three starters heading into the game Wednesday which usually means big opportunities for younger players on the team.
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