Miami Heat: 5 reasons Bam Adebayo was a good pick

1. Heat brass fell in love with the person, not just the player

Adebayo’s ability to crash the glass and switch onto guards made my eyes bulge. His numbers against elite competition? Music to my ears. The fact that he’s still only 19 years old, and not yet done maturing physically? Yes, please.

The intangibles, though? Eh.

Nonetheless, at the same time, I’ve never worked for an NBA team. I don’t know how much stock should go into a prospect’s personality.

So when Riley and Spoelstra raved about Adebayo the person, I realized that impressions matter more than I thought. The Miami Herald’s Manny Navarro wrote a wonderful piece on that very topic; in it, he mentioned that, “the Heat love Adebayo as much for his background and the way he fits into the franchise’s hard-working culture.”

Spoelstra expounded on that just a bit:

"“So much of this league is about finding the kind of basketball player that fits your culture, fits your style of play, fits your work ethic. Bam checks so many boxes,” Spoelstra said. “And he has a great story that we really connected with. We believe in these kind of stories, guys that have to show perseverance and great individual character. That matters. That matters in this league.”"

If any one team would know about what type of person to welcome into their organization, it’s the Heat. After decades of evidence (and scores of players who personify hard work and class — like Udonis Haslem and Alonzo Mourning — suiting up for the franchise), we have no choice but to trust their evaluations here.

Moreover, it’s easy to see why Miami fell in love with Adebayo’s personality. Here’s a brief video of him consoling a teammate (new Sacramento Kings point guard, De’Aaron Fox), while being overcome with emotion himself after a gut-wrenching loss to UNC in the Elite Eight last postseason:

Though many of us may not have realized it on draft night, Adebayo’s strengths as a player perfectly suit the modern NBA. His personality should seamlessly jell within the culture that’s blossomed in South Florida too. And as Spoelstra said when discussing his newest big man, “that matters.”

Next: 2017 NBA Draft Winners and Losers

It matters a whole lot more than wingspans and points per possession, that’s for sure.