The Miami Heat are off to a dreadful start to the 2026-27 season, dropping their first four games after a 113-109 loss on Monday night to the Dallas Mavericks.
It's not the start anyone in Miami envisioned after trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, and all of the worst fears about the Heat's roster and a potentially clunky offensive fit between Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo have already come to fruition in the first week of the season.
Adebayo is off to the worst start to a season in his career since becoming a full-time starter, averaging 11.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on 40.0/16.7/61.5 shooting splits -- all of which would represent career-low shooting marks. A four-game sample is not enough to entirely write off the partnership, but it has been about the worst-case scenario for how those two stars can work off of each other.
Adebayo said outside critics are making him out to be "the scapegoat" of Miami's early-season struggles, but with a roster already thin on offensive talent, the Heat's second star struggling this badly is going to bring quite the spotlight.
Davion Mitchell, the team's starting point guard, was asked about Adebayo's struggles after Monday's loss to Dallas and succinctly explained why it's a tough fit alongside Antetokounmpo.
"I think I got to do a better job of not letting [Adebayo] get lost in the game," Mitchell said, via ESPN. "He got to be more aggressive. I think that he will. He's still trying to figure it out because I said this before -- I think him and Giannis play in the same spaces, and then when Giannis is on the floor, he's on the floor. He can't be in those spaces, and but it's something to get used to."
That was always the concern with that partnership, and as Mitchell noted, if it's a matter of Adebayo or Antetokounmpo being in his preferred spot, it's almost always going to be Antetokounmpo getting his way. The problem is that it puts Adebayo in spots where he's uncomfortable. And even when he is getting touches in his best spots, the spacing is off because Antetokounmpo also wants to get to the paint.
I don't like this right here...
— The HEAT Realm (@WadexFlash) October 24, 2026
Bam gets the post up but Giannis decides to walk in the paint which gives Bam 0 space to work with.
We gotta be smarter man. pic.twitter.com/84SwpMvDBY
Perhaps the most worrisome part of this for Adebayo is that Antetokounmpo's history tells us he's not going to change for the betterment of his co-star. Antetokounmpo's partnership with Damian Lillard made it abundantly clear that he's not the type to adjust his game tremendously to make for a better fit with a star, as he didn't want to be part of a pick-and-roll-heavy two-man game with Lillard that could've made the Bucks' offense special.
That means there's little reason to expect Antetokounmpo to suddenly recognize he and Adebayo want to play in similar spots and to yield that position to Adebayo more often. If that's the case, the onus gets put on Adebayo to completely alter his game 10 years into his NBA career.
So far, that reinvention isn't going very well, as his 3-point shot has not fallen and he's struggling to get opportunities inside -- his 6.8 2-point attempts per game are by far his lowest since becoming a starter in his third season.
As Mitchell notes, some of it comes down to Adebayo being more aggressive, but it's harder to do so when you aren't in comfortable spots. With Antetokounmpo unlikely to change his style to help Adebayo adapt, it's going to be up to Adebayo to sink or swim in this new partnership.