Jimmy Butler seems to have taken over the role of “lead distributor” on the Heat. This is not okay. One, because I don’t even like Butler, and don’t ask me why, because I don’t know. And two, because I want Bam Adebayo to be the full-time ball-handler as it seemed like he was primed to be after some of his Summer League performances.
He’s still getting a nice amount of assists, a really nice amount of assists for a bigman, but that’s not what I really want. What I want is him dribbling up the court, pushing the ball in transition, making plays for himself or others. He does it sometimes, sure. But it needs to happen all the time. No more walking the ball up the court, no more “half-court offense”. Half-court offense is for teams that don’t have a center who can handle the ball as well as pass. Half-court offense is for teams that are SCARED to push the envelope into being a pure transition team.
Adebayo’s young. He can handle it. He might be huffing and puffing after a quarter or two, but that’s why you have timeouts. He’s looking tired, you call the timeout, put some smelling salts under his nose, have him chug a Gatorade or five, tell the entertainers and crowd to be quiet so he can take a mini-nap, and you’ll be fine. They don’t pay these players NOT to play basketball, after all.