A dramatic ending to an excellent season for the Miami Heat last year is remembered by a Jimmy Butler pull-up three on the fast break with his team down two in the Eastern Conference Finals versus the Boston Celtics. The shot did not go in, and the Celtics would move on and advance to the Finals.
Miami is headed for another season of action as a top contender to come out of the Eastern Conference and is looking to push one of their stars Bam Adebayo, to have an increased scoring role. Doing so can take the team over the hump.
Last year, Adebayo only averaged 13.7 shot attempts a game. For someone that shoots it at 55.7 percent, the expectation is that more volume will cede more outstanding production. Even Butler chimed in about this push on Media Day.
“We know he knows we want him to score more; we want him to be aggressive. He can do it, and he’s going to — He always is and always will be the engine, the key part on both ends of the floor. So we’re going where Bam takes us.”
Adebayo understands that the team wants him to score more, so he is setting a new goal for himself going into the 2022-23 campaign. On Media Day, the Heat star revealed that he wants to average close to 18 shot attempts per game.
“I’m going to try to get it up this year,” said Adebayo. “I feel like we’re a lot better team when I’m scoring the basketball.”
If the Heat star can remain efficient with that many shot attempts this season, we are potentially looking at an early MIP candidate.
