Bam Adebayo predicts ‘a lot of changes’ from Heat’s Pat Riley after first-round NBA playoff disaster
Jimmy Butler’s Miami departure likely won’t be the last domino to fall for the Heat.
After getting swept in historic fashion in the first round against the top-seeded Cavaliers, Heat star Bam Adebayo expects team president Pat Riley won’t take this season’s failures lightly.
The Cavaliers won the series by an NBA record 122 points and the Cavaliers’ 55-point win in Game 4 — a 138-83 triumph — marked the fourth-largest in NBA history in a playoff game, per ESPN.
“It’s gonna be a lot of changes this summer,” Adebayo said after Monday’s loss.
“Just from my point of view and understanding how the guy with the silver hair (Riley) works. Just be prepared for that.”
Riley has been with the organization since 1995, serving in numerous roles in that time while building three championship teams and a perennial playoff contender.
This year’s squad, which went 37-45 in the regular season, hardly resembled a championship-caliber team both with and without Butler.
Bridges burned between Riley and Butler leading up to the trade deadline, which resulted in the superstar finding a new home with the Warriors after leading Miami to the NBA Finals twice in five and a half seasons.
Butler’s tenure with the Heat ran its course, but it did not leave the franchise with a very competitive roster — as seen in its abysmal performance against Cleveland.
The Heat have two foundational pieces to build around in Adebayo and Tyler Herro, but that is not enough to have them contending with the Cavaliers, Celtics and Knicks.
Adebayo averaged 17.5 points on 43.75-percent shooting from the field in the four games against the Cavaliers, slightly down from his season averages of 18.1 and 48.5, respectively.
“Gotta figure out how to win a game in the playoffs,” said Adebayo, who’s been with the Heat for the entirety of his eight-year NBA career. “You understand how hard it is when you actually get into these trenches — so, you take that and you figure it out.”
It’s possible Adebayo and Herro are better suited for complementary roles, should the Heat acquire another alpha like Butler.
Adebayo actually hasn’t improved all that much over the past several years, at least on paper. In 2020-21, he averaged 18.7 points and nine rebounds on 57/25/79.9 shooting splits.
In four seasons since then, his 3-point shooting has been the only noticeable climb, going up to 35.7 percent this season on far more attempts. His points and rebounds have never dipped lower than 18 and 9, respectively, but have also maxed out at 20.4 and 10.4.
The Heat’s core is certainly respectable with other pieces like Andrew Wiggins and youngsters like Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez and Kel’el Ware, but the roster overall is middling.
Riley has been as active and outspoken as any executive in the league. So nobody, even Adebayo, should be surprised if things get shaken up this offseason.