Report: Heat 'in process' of extending Bam Adebayo's contract
De'Aaron Fox, Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell locked up their designated rookie max extensions over the weekend. A fourth member of the 2017 NBA Draft class is expected to do the same very soon.
According to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, the Miami Heat are "in the process" of extending Bam Adebayo's contract.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the Heat plan to give Adebayo a max extension worth nearly $200 million, which is equivalent to what both Tatum and Mitchell agreed to. Miami has until Dec. 21 to finalize such an agreement with Adebayo. Without a deal in place, Adebayo would become a restricted free agent during the 2021 offseason.
It was originally believed that Miami was questioning whether or not to give Adebayo a max deal because it wanted to clear salary-cap space to land one of the top available 2021 free agents in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Victor Oladipo, Kyle Lowry and/or LeBron James, among others.
However, the 23-year-old proved how valuable he is to the franchise last season and throughout the playoffs. Adebayo averaged 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game last season while shooting 55.7% from the field and 14.3% from deep. He was even better in the playoffs en route to the NBA Finals, averaging 17.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
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