Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo is the DPOY candidate hiding in plain sight

During his five seasons in the NBA, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo has made the All-Defensive Second Team three times. Last season, he missed the All-Defensive First Team by only one point. The competition for defensive awards in the NBA is tough. Last season, Adebayo actually made the All-Defensive Second Team as a forward because Rudy Gobert and Robert Williams took up the two center spots.

Much of the same competition will be fighting for Defensive Player of the Year votes in the 2022-23 season. Adebayo has been considered a candidate for the last three years, but never was a finalist. He finished fourth in voting — just short of being a finalist for the last two seasons.

Bam Adebayo is a defense-first player and proud of the work he puts in on that end of the floor. He believes he is being undervalued and should have been in consideration to win the award last season. Now, he is motivated to prove his worth this season, and he definitely has what it takes to win the DPOY award.

Bam Adebayo is a proven defensive star at the core of this Miami Heat team.

Currently, Adebayo has the second-best odds to win the award by the end of the season. The award traditionally goes to rim protectors, with the exception of Marcus Smart last season. Now once again, five big men are leading the rankings, including Gobert who won the last three awards before Smart.

Of these big men in the running, Adebayo might very well be the most versatile one. He can guard pick-and-rolls, switch, protect the rim in transition and outside of it, and plays great weakside defense. Adebayo can also defend every position if he has to and despite being a center, he defends point guards on 11.7 percent of defensive possessions.

Adebayo himself believes that he is one of three players in the league who can really guard every position, next to Draymond Green and Giannis Antetokounmpo. One example of Adebayo’s versatility was on full display last season when the Miami Heat played the Charlotte Hornets in February. He guarded four players all by himself, switching from his original assignment to LaMelo Ball, who could not get past him and passed the ball to Terry Rozier. He also did not manage to score against Adebayo, passing the ball to Miles Bridges instead. Bridges bravely opted to go for the layup, but Adebayo blocked the attempt.

Sadly, a lot of that defensive effort outside of steals and blocks often goes unnoticed. The stats are in Adebayo’s favor too, though. His average of 1.5 steals per game is actually the best by any center over the last two seasons. Over the past three seasons, Adebayo also only allowed 0.84 points per isolation. That is second among the 24 players who guarded at least 500 isolations.

When Bam Adebayo switched, the Miami Heat only allowed 0.87 points per possession, and he switched 561 screens last season, which is a lot. In today’s game, it is important for centers to be able to switch onto guards and hold their own. Unlike other big men, Adebayo is not just a pure rim protector who hangs out by the basket. He is a very active and disruptive player. Last season, he held guards to only 39.2 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from behind the arc. Most players do not even bother attacking the rim when Adebayo is in the area.

Since 2008, every Defensive of the Year Player has been a part of a top-five defensive team. The Heat had a great defense last season, anchored by Adebayo. This season, they will be good too, but not quite as great. First of all, they lost P.J. Tucker this offseason who is an elite defender. The remaining defenders, Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, are aging and other important players such as Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson are below-average defenders. Adebayo will have to pick up the slack, which could further his case for the DPOY award, as his elite defense will be on full display.

Last season, the Miami Heat held opponents to 104.9 points per 100 possessions when Adebayo was on the court. Without him, that number increased to 108.4 points. Adebayo led the Heat in blocks, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and total rebounds and was second in steals. Thanks to his high defensive IQ, Adebayo can work in any defensive scheme and have a notable impact.

The race for DPOY will be a tough one once again with many of the candidates embodying many of the same qualities. Two characteristics in Adebayo’s favor are his age and durability. He is only 25 years old; the same age Gobert was when he won his first DPOY award, and does not get hurt a lot. Last season, he missed 26 games, but before that,m he only missed nine games over three seasons.

Furthermore, Adebayo and Antetokounmpo are the only candidates who will not have to go through major adjustments. Even Draymond Green will have to get used to seeing more of the young guys on the court, and Mikal Bridges will have to see how the Suns’ ownership issues will affect the season. So, if Adebayo can replicate his defensive success and maybe even step it up, he should be one of the front-runners for Defensive Player of the Year.

Bam Adebayo might not attract as much attention as other candidates such as Gobert, but the numbers and his performance history suggest that he is the DPOY candidate hiding in plain sight.