Bam is taking 3s. Will it last?

Oct 5, 2022 - 12:25 PM

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It started in the Miami Heat’s red, white and pink scrimmage Oct. 3 — Bam Adebayo opened the game with a 3-pointer. He later hit two more.

After the game, Erik Spoelstra said that the 2020 All-Star extended his range. But it was easy to brush it off. The scrimmage is essentially an All-Star Game — players hardly play any defense. Would Adebayo take 3s once the season starts?

Well, it’s just the first game of the preseason. But late in the third quarter of the Heat’s preseason opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Adebayo deflected a pass to ignite a fast-break. Duncan Robinson passed him the ball from the corner for an above-the-break 3. It went in.

On the Heat’s subsequent possession, Caleb Martin and Adebayo ran a simple pick-and-roll for an alley-oop dunk.

That 20-second segment was the highlight for the Heat from a 121-111 loss. On the whole, Miami turned the ball over a lot early and had difficulty connecting from beyond the arc. But Adebayo was aggressive, scoring 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting. (Also of note: Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo and Gabe Vincent all sat out.)

Adebayo doesn’t have to take several 3s per game. He can just go back to what Butler wanted him to do back in the 2019-20 season. Then, the former Marquette standout made a bet with Adebayo to shoot a 3 in each game or pay Butler $500. (I’m pretty sure this was a joke, considering he took just 14 3s that season. And this was when Adebayo was still on his rookie contract.)

In the 2012-13 season, Chris Bosh played 74 games and took 74 3-pointers. That’s all he has to do. And if he makes a respectable number of them, it’ll make Miami’s offense more dynamic.