As the Heat prepare to take on a loaded Eastern Conference with the preseason opener Tuesday, the team had a scrimmage open to the public called the “Red, White, and Pink” game to bring awareness to breast cancer. After a productive training camp for the Heat, multiple players decided to display their talents with the main two being star Bam Adebayo and rookie Pelle Larsson.
While Adebayo has little to prove to anyone in showing how elite of a player he is, there is one aspect about his game that is looking to make a splash this upcoming season. Adebayo’s three-point shooting has been teased ever since the latter half of the season in 2023 where he was attempting and even making them at a consistent level.
Heat’s Bam Adebayo shows confidence from three-point range
In Monday night’s scrimmage, fans got to witness it as Adebayo (19 points, one rebound, two assists) attempted from deep 11 times, making five of them in which he started on a hot streak. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke after the scrimmage and told ClutchPoints that the confidence in which he’s shooting from deep is “growing.”
“I would say last year, at this time, he was already making them at a pretty high level in the practice setting and then, more work,” Spoelstra said. “It’s really a credit to Bam, constantly growing and evolving, and now his confidence is matching the work that he’s put in about the last six weeks of the season last year were big, and going into summer, it was just another big boost to his confidence. And I think he’ll be able to step right in and take those kind of shots, and it’ll fit within our system. Also important, you know, for us is that all three of our centers right now, Bam, K-Love and Thomas [Bryant] can all knock down threes, and Kel’el will get there too. His potential there, he’s not quite at their level right now, but just give him some time.”
A lot of the younger players on the team that are vying for a roster spot got a lot of time in the scrimmage like first round pick Kel’el Ware, Josh Christopher, Isaiah Stevens, Caleb Daniels, and Keshad Johnson. However, one stole the show in second-round selection Pelle Larsson selected out of the University of Arizona.
Heat rookie Pelle Larsson impresses in preseason scrimmage
Larsson was active and everywhere on the floor Monday as he finished with 21 points (led the whole roster), nine assists, and three rebounds while shooting 10 of 16 from the field. Spoelstra would say after the game that “he’s as advertised” in what the pre-draft scouting was like and has already called him an “elite role player.”
“I think that’s what is so interesting about the draft process for all the different teams, each team has their own philosophy,” Spoelstra said. “Each team values different things. He’s an elite role player and if you mention that to some organizations, they probably think that that’s horrible.”
“I think it fits absolutely with our style of play, our culture, how we view players and how they impact winning,” Spoelstra continued. “Well, he does all of those things, and he could fit in like he did in Arizona and be a super high level impacting role player. And you can see how he can be a plug and play with his maturity, his physicality, the fact that he does on both ends, and he knows to how to fit in. Those are hard things to teach, particularly the way the game has been trending in America with the development of AAU and everything. He’s a little bit of a throwback. He’s a savvy, experienced player that knows how to impact winning.”
At any rate, the true first test in competitive play comes Tuesday when the Heat open the preseason without Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. against the Charlotte Hornets.
