Adebayo has made some major offensive strides as of late, showing off a set of post moves that were nonexistent when the season first began. The concerns that held him back before, though, are still present — and thus he remains a bit further back that some may expect for the time being.
Even with the improvements, Adebayo is still an undersized center with little to speak of offensively when venturing outside the painted area. His physical tools alone give him an advantage that most teenagers don’t have when coming into the league, but big men who don’t produce offensively outside of shots at the rim have an increasingly limited role at the next level, and it’ll be difficult for Bam to buck that trend.
Where Adebayo does fill a very specific, but very important, niche at an extremely high level is on the defensive side of the ball. His strength, length, and leaping ability should allow him to play above his size, while his rim protection skills are among the best in this year’s class. He’s also a constant reserve of energy on the boards, using his bulky frame and great motor to carve out space underneath and grab rebounds at a high level.
One comparison that seems fitting is a smaller Tristan Thompson, which is one that certainly outlines the minutia of his game well. The Nets are devoid of sustainable, starting-level long term talent at this point, with Caris LeVert and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson being the only ones potentially capable of carrying on a load remotely close to that down the road. Adebayo may or may not be a starter — and he definitely won’t be while Brook Lopez is still on the team — but he fills that effort-based role that every competitive roster needs, and should be able to do so from day one.