Kawhi Leonard, Jonathan Isaac top first NBA Defensive Player of the Year ladder

A full-time starter for the first time in his career, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo is turning some heads with his terrific all-around play in his third NBA season.

Adebayo has started every game thus far for the Heat and in 33.6 minutes per game is averaging 8.0 defensive rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks a night. Inside of six feet, he is holding opposing shooters to 57.3 percent, 3.3 percent below the league average of 60.6.

His steal rate of 1.8 percent ranks in the 89th percentile among bigs, according to Cleaning the Glass and on the boards, he is in the 81st percentile among bigs in defensive rebounds off missed field goals and in the 93rd percentile in defensive boards coming off a missed free throw.

He doesn’t have the profile of a traditional rim protector — his 1.9 percent block rate is only in the 50th percentile among big men — but he’s extremely versatile and switchable, even at 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds and his foul rate of 2.9 percent ranks in the 82nd percentile among bigs.

Adebayo does concede 66.2 percent on 17.5 attempts per game in the restricted area, which doesn’t compare quite as well to some of the other contenders. But he’s important to the Miami defense — the Heat’s defensive rating climbs from 102.5 points per 100 possessions to 104.5 when Adebayo is off the floor.