The good news of the evening comes to us from Sud Plage: Bam Adebayo is obviously very close to returning from his prolonged absence. While the Heat have a busy weekend with a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, the Miami pivot should indeed be able to repress the floors on Monday during MLK Day. Anyway, that’s the plan.
Four to six weeks away. This is the duration that was announced on December 1 after the thumb operation suffered by Bam Adebayo, victim of a rupture of the ulnar collateral ligament. A month and a half later, we are there and as expected, Bam will very soon turn back the floors. Indeed, according to Adrian Wojnarowski ofESPN, the All-Star is reportedly targeting a return for Monday’s game, MLK Day when the Heat host the Toronto Raptors. According to the Woj, Bam has really spent the second in training in recent days and if everything goes as planned this weekend, we should actually see him in uniform at the very beginning of next week. A return that obviously brings a smile to the Florida team because when you recover a pivot as impactful as Adebayo, it’s always excellent news. Before his sore thumb, Bam was doing Bam with his 18.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals on average in 33 minutes. The kind of production that cannot be replaced like that, even if it must be admitted that the Heat did rather well while Adebayo squatted in the infirmary. Miami’s record since the beginning of December? 20 games played, 13 wins, 7 losses, and a second place in the East recovered in front of Brooklyn.
An impressive record because not only Bam was out, but in addition Jimmy Butler also missed 14 games over the same period of time. No Adebayo, no Butler, other small absences from right to left, and yet the Heat wins, again and again. Thank you Erik Spoelstra huh, and thank you also to those guys who step-up like we’ve seen so many over the years on the Miami side. An example ? Omer Yurtseven, of course, who took advantage of Adebayo’s absence to make noise on post 5. While Dewayne Dedmon had initially replaced Bam as titu pivot, the veteran also went through the infirmary box, thus offering his spot to the undrafted rookie of Turkish nationality. Here are his stats since December 26: eight games in the starting lineup, averaging 12.1 points and 14.6 rebounds, with 3 bonus assists and 1.3 steals. Omer even allowed himself to register his name alongside NBA legends by chaining 11 games to at least 12 rebounds. Heavy ! Inevitably, with the return of Bam Adebayo as well as that of Dedmon, Yurtseven’s production will drop but in any case, he has clearly proven that he can represent an active member of the Coach Spo rotation, and we are curious to see what role the latter will give him for the rest of the season.
Six weeks after his operation, Bam Adebayo seems almost ready to return to the courts. And Miami, now second in the East, should become even more dangerous once everyone is up and running, with Jimmy Butler also on his way back after missing the last three outings.
Text source: ESPN
After right thumb surgery six weeks ago, Miami Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo is targeting a return vs. the Toronto Raptors on Monday, sources tell ESPN. Adebayo – who averages 18.7 points and 10.2 rebounds — has been ramping up on the court this week.
– Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 14, 2022
