Miami Heat: 5 takeaways from 2017 NBA Summer League

1. Bam Adebayo was better than advertised

After scoring 13.0 points per contest during his lone year at Kentucky, and showing next-to-no skill as a college player, many wondered why Adebayo was Miami’s selection at No. 14 in the 2017 NBA Draft.

“Taking a likely career backup center with a lottery pick? What gives?”

Well, it took all of one game for many — myself included — to change their tune.

At the end of his time in the Summer League — a stretch of seven games spanning both coasts — Adebayo had made believers of not just Heat fans, but observers league-wide. It’s not difficult to discern why, either.

The former Wildcat’s numbers (apart from a poor sub-40 shooting percentage) were quite impressive: 16.7 points per game, along with 8.4 boards and 1.4 rejections.

Even more notable, however, was how he went about getting his buckets. Adebayo flashed an outside-the-paint game not many knew he had.

Coast-to-coast finishes aside, his jumper — previously considered a weakness — looked serviceable as well.

Furthermore, thanks to his size and explosiveness, the 6’10” big man drew nearly 10 foul shots a night throughout Summer League, and sank nearly 80 percent of his opportunities from the charity stripe — yet another sign he’ll eventually weaponize his jump shot at the NBA level.

Next: Miami Heat -- 5 reasons Bam Adebayo was a good pick

Adebayo will play the Willie Reed role for the Heat in 2017-18 — that of backup center. Either way, his showing over the past three weeks flashed what could be a very bright future — one that could eventually even make Hassan Whiteside expendable for Miami down the road.