Kentucky Basketball pushed three more big names into the 2017 NBA Draft lottery. Bam Adebayo climbed his way into the lottery with hard work.
If there’s one thing you can say about Bam Adebayo, its that he has a motor that doesn’t quit. That bodes will for him at the next level. The Miami Heat took Bam as the last pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. Kentucky Basketball has produced many big men in the NBA who are the focus of their teams. Guys like Anthony Davis, Demarcus Cousins, and Karl Anthony Towns are the faces of their teams. And for good reason.
One cannot compare those three names to what Bam Adebayo brings to the NBA table. Bam doesn’t handle the ball like Davis. He doesn’t score like Towns. Also, he doesn’t bring that raw emotion like Cousins. But, what he does bring to the table is a willingness to outwork everyone on the floor.
At Kentucky, Bam wasn’t called upon to lead the team in scoring every night. He had his role. Being a great teammate is half the battle in professional sports. Your performance is the other half. Bam Adebayo enters the big leagues with 50 percent of what he needs guaranteed. The other half, the performance aspect, will come easy to him because of his ability to be a great teammate.
Bam averaged nearly a double-double in his freshman season at Kentucky. The Wildcats relied on him to rebound the basketball and clean up around the rim. He showed on many occasions his ability to put the ball on the floor and create his own offense. His post moves are average and his athleticism is elite. Although he didn’t shoot many shots outside the paint he has shown in his pre-draft workouts that he can, in fact, hit it from the outside. That will translate well into the NBA’s offensive game.
The Meal Ticket
He can really get after it on the defensive side of the ball. At just under 6-foot-10, he will be expected to play the power forward position in the NBA. After spending much of his time in the paint on defense at Kentucky, he will need to prove he is capable of guarding the stretch fours the NBA is so fond of.
Next: The All-Kentucky NBA team that would win the NBA Finals
Bam will make his NBA money by rebounding the basketball at a high level and shutting offensive minded forwards down. Guys like Anthony Davis, Kevin Love, Draymond Green, and Kristaps Porzingis are who Adebayo could be matched up against. In addition to his defensive expectations, Bam must provide a physically imposing presence in the paint on both ends to play a long career in the NBA. A model like Dennis Rodman could be the example of what kind of player Bam has the potential to be.