Bam Adebayo may not be the man in Miami
It's admittedly been an up-and-down first quarter of the season for the Miami Heat. But because the Eastern Conference has been relatively inconsistent, aside from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, the Heat isn't completely out of the race for a top 4 seed at this point in the season. But even though the Heat are still in fair standing, there are some concerning trends that continue to take shape for the team. And I'm not sure if there are any more unsettling than the fact that Bam Adebayo has taken a bit of a step back.
When the Heat needed him to take a step forward the most, Bam has looked like a percentage of the player he had been each of the past two seasons. At this point, the argument could be made that Bam may not be the primary player that the Heat needs him to be if they want to take a step forward as a franchise. And as they prepare to possibly pivot away from a Jimmy Butler build, you can't help but wonder if it would be the right thing to build around Bam.
The Denver Nuggets' title window is over
Even though the Denver Nuggets have begun to shake off their somewhat slow start to the season, there continue to be concerns about this team as a potential contender in the Western Conference. Because the West continues to be widely inconsistent, the Nuggets aren't completely out of the race for the top seed. However, more often than not, the Nuggets don't have the look of a team that will be consistent enough to win a title this season. Again, at least through the first quarter of the season, the Nuggets have left much to be desired.
I suppose there is a lot that can change between now and the end of the season but the Nuggets continue to have a below-average defense. And if this team is not going to be especially special on the offensive end of the floor, which they haven't been consistently so far this season, it's hard to envision the team being able to overcome their shortcomings on the defensive end. At this point, there are many who would agree that it appears the title window for the Nuggets has closed.