BallRanks
Premium
Menu
Blog

Player outlook

Giannis can finally make Bam Adebayo's three-pointer worth drafting

Adebayo's long-range experiment has so far traded one category for another without adding value. Miami's new star changes the kind of threes he takes, and that is where his upside now lives.

October 11, 2026· Ball Ranks
Bam Adebayo
C-F · MIA
Bam Adebayo
Our rank
#58

Bam Adebayo made one three-pointer during the entire 2022–23 season, on 12 attempts. Last season he made one roughly every 19 minutes.

That meant 5.5 attempts a game, 1.7 makes, and 44.2% from the field, the lowest mark of his career. Fantasy managers have spent two drafts arguing whether that shot made him better or broke his percentages. On the Ball Ranks board, it has done neither. It has been an even trade, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is about to decide whether it starts paying a profit.

Every three he added cost him almost exactly what it earned

The climb was steady: 0.6 attempts a game in 2023–24, 2.8 in 2024–25, 5.5 last season. His field-goal percentage fell in step, from 52.1% to 48.5% to 44.2%. The same pattern played out inside last season. From October through December he took 4.3 threes a game and shot 46.7% overall. From January on, he took 6.1 and shot 43.1%.

Model Zero lands between the two versions: 17.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.7 blocks, 1.2 threes, 46.4% shooting, and 1.8 turnovers in 30.5 minutes. That ranks 58th per game. Swap in last season's shooting — 1.7 threes at 44.2% on the same 13.8 attempts — and he still ranks 58th. The extra threes add almost exactly what the lost field-goal percentage takes away.

That reframes the debate. Volume was never the problem. Accuracy is. He made 31.8% of his threes last season. If better looks let him keep 1.7 threes a game while shooting close to 46% overall, he climbs to roughly 51st. That is his realistic upside, and it depends on Miami's new star.

Giannis turns Bam from creator into release valve

Miami sent Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakučionis, and three first-round picks to Milwaukee for Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis in July, per ESPN. Herro now ranks 52nd on our board, six spots ahead of the center he left behind.

Adebayo described the change plainly at the start of camp: "So this year, I'm getting open looks." Erik Spoelstra included "his three-point spacing" among the skills that make Bam's versatility vital, the Miami Herald reported. Catch-and-shoot threes off Antetokounmpo's drives are a different shot from the ones Bam took last season, when Miami often needed him to create offense himself.

The ball now belongs to Davion Mitchell, projected for 5.7 assists, and Antetokounmpo at 4.9. Bam's scoring projection falls from last season's 20.1 to 17.8 because Miami no longer needs him to manufacture possessions. Points are the second-largest piece of his value, so the drop matters, but a cleaner shot diet protects field-goal percentage, which is now close to neutral instead of a drag.

NBA.com's season preview raised the obvious concern: neither Antetokounmpo nor Adebayo is a consistent perimeter shooter, and the likely first unit relies on Mitchell, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins for spacing. Bam does not need to become a great shooter. He needs his misses to come from open looks.

The rebounds carry the rank, and he has shared them before

Rebounding is nearly half of Bam's per-game value; only 16 players on our board get more value from rebounds. Antetokounmpo projects for 8.9 rebounds, which looks like a threat until you look at last season. Adebayo averaged 10.0 rebounds while Ware grabbed 9.0 in 22.1 minutes. Sharing the glass with another big is nothing new. Model Zero still trims him to 9.1.

His defense shows up in an unusual place for a center. Of the 23 centers inside our top 80, only Nikola Jokić and Alperen Şengün project for more steals than his 1.1, while 18 project for more than his 0.7 blocks. His steals add more to his rank than his blocks do.

That shapes the builds. Punting free throws lifts him to 48th, punting threes lifts him to 47th, and punting both puts him 43rd, between Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ivica Zubac. Punting blocks drops him to 64th. The best partner is a pure rim protector: together they cover both defensive categories from the frontcourt and leave your guards free to chase threes and free throws.

Thirty games without Giannis could bring back the shots that hurt

Antetokounmpo played 36 games last season, and Model Zero projects 52. Adebayo has already described the arrangement: "we can't play the whole 48 minutes together." The minutes he plays alone, and the full games Antetokounmpo misses, put him back in last season's role.

That role is productive and messy. Herro played only 33 games last season, so Bam has already carried a short-handed offense. In March he averaged 25.9 points on 19.8 shots and 9.9 free throws, and shot 40.8% from the field. Two or three weeks like that help points and drag field-goal percentage below where the projection expects.

There is a second risk on the boards. If Antetokounmpo stays healthy and plays well beyond his projected 26.7 minutes, the rebounding category that supports Bam's rank could slip below nine. That would cost more than any change in his three-point volume.

Draft the 73 games, not last season's 20 points

Adebayo played 71, 78, and 73 games over the last three seasons, and Model Zero projects 73. That durability moves him from 58th per game to 40th on Ball Ranks' totals board.

In a 12-team roto or totals league, he is a fourth-round pick. In per-game head-to-head leagues, he belongs in the back half of the fifth. Move him up in big-man builds that punt free throws or threes, especially after drafting a shot blocker. Move him down if your center spot still needs blocks.

The 20-point role left with the job that created it. The rebounds, steals, and 73 games did not.

See Bam Adebayo's full player profile, or compare Miami's rebuilt frontcourt on the 2026–27 fantasy basketball board.

Sources and data notes