Miami Heat PF/C Bam Adebayo will undergo surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right thumb, the team announced Wednesday afternoon. Adebayo is expected to be out for 6 weeks. It’s tough news for the Heat, who are third in the Eastern Conference 13-8 and entering Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Heat are also dealing with an injury to Jimmy Butler (tailbone).
Adebayo was averaging 18.7 points and 10.2 rebounds in 18 games this season before the injury. With the schedule set at six weeks, that would mean Adebayo is unlikely to return to the line-up until January at the earliest. Bam could be out longer depending on his recovery and how the team handles his return.
Without Bam, the Heat will have to rely on Dewayne Dedmon at center for the next month and a half. He is the only experienced center in the squad. Behind Dedmon we could see the Heat just play small balls with PJ Tucker in the middle what the Houston Rockets used to do with James Harden and Mike D’Antoni. Omer Yurtseven may also be in the middle for a while if you remember him from Summer League.
Tucker is only 3.5 percent owned by ESPN leagues and makes for an interesting pick-up from the fantasy basketball loss wire. We know Tucker Bigs can defend and he will most likely need to play a lot of minutes. If that’s the case, rebounds will be the big category Tucker can contribute to.
Adebayo is 20/1 to be named Defensive Player of the Year, although with this news those chances are likely to drop. Bam could miss too many games before he returns. Don’t let that put you off the Miami futures lines at this point. Adebayo should return and unless he is hampered by the injury, the Heat will remain contenders. There’s always a risk of re-injury, but we hope that’s not the case with Adebayo’s thumb surgery.
The lines affected are heat totals, seeding and postseason odds. I can’t see Bam’s six-week absence knocking Miami out of the playoff picture, even though the East are very tight at the moment. Overall wins could be affected and the Heat could fall into the bottom half of the playoff seeding picture.
