Bam Adebayo should be offended by how the Miami Heat has mishandled his role

As a rising star in the league, Bam Adebayo isn't being properly used by the Miami Heat and he should be frustrated.

The Miami Heat may be 2-2 this season but this is a team that looks out of sorts, out of rhythm, and perhaps most importantly, out of answers. The Heat, at least at this point in the season, are not a good team. They have a below-average offense, a barely average defense, and play at the second-slowest pace in the league. Right now, the Heat is not only playing a boring style of basketball but to make things worse, they're not good at it either.

But none of those things are the biggest injustice by the team. Through the first four games of the season, I'd say the biggest mistake the team has been making comes in their handling of Bam Adebayo. He's not being put in a position to lead when he should probably be the primary focal point of the team on both ends of the floor.

Instead, you have the likes of Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier, two high-volume scorers, eating up the usage on the offensive end of the floor. The fact that Bam, the team's best player at this point in his career, is averaging less than 10 shot attempts per game and has a sub-20 usage percentage on the season is astonishing to see. To put that into perspective, Bam has a lesser usage percentage than Rui Hachimura, Jakob Poeltl, and Brook Lopez.

Bam Adebayo is an afterthought this season in Miami

Simply put, the Heat are treating Bam like the fourth-best player on the team when he is pretty clearly their best. At this point, in what is the prime of his career, Bam should be absolutely offended with how the Heat is using him so far this season. Bam is on pace to have his worst season since becoming a full-time starter in 2019 and is only averaging 11 points and seven rebounds on 40 percent shooting from the field.

Bam has certainly not done a ton of favors for himself as he is struggling with his overall offensive game but the team also hasn't put him in a position to succeed. Nothing has come easy for Bam this season on the offensive end of the floor and that has to fall on the coaching staff.

The Heat can't fail to make a championship-worthy upgrade this past offseason, talk about how they're comfortable with the talent they have on their roster, and then have Herro and Rozier playing the No. 1 and 2 roles for the Heat to begin the year. That's a complete whiff from the team. And that's not meant to be a knock on Herro or Rozier. They're fine players but they should never be put in a position where they have to be great in order for the team to win.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and the rest of the coaching staff and team management have gotten plenty of praise over the years. But right now, the argument could be made that this team's leadership has completely dropped the ball with the mishandling of Bam. And sooner or later, he's going to grow frustrated with his role - if he already isn't behind closed doors.