Bam Adebayo Should Start Next Season for the Miami Heat

Everyone already knows that Bam Adebayo is the future of the Miami Heat. The team's number 14 selection in last year's NBA Draft has already proven to be a keeper in his short NBA career. What has yet to be determined, however, is what Adebayo's role should be in the present. With so many high-priced players on the roster creating a logjam in the rotation, it's uncertain what Adebayo's role with the team will be next season.

The answer to that question should be simple: Bam Adebayo should be a starter for the Heat this year. As should Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow. All the Miami Heat's young stars need to play and play often. Minutes for the Miami Heat's youngest and most valuable future stars should be the highest priority in this upcoming season.

Even if the Heat are unable to unload some of the disastrous contracts they have on the books with role players that even Pat Riley would have to admit are overpaid, that doesn't change the fact that Richardson, Winslow, and Adebayo are waiting for their turn to play a larger role on the team. Last season Winslow played 24 minutes per game, while Adebayo played just under 20 in his 69 games. Both must play closer to the 33 minutes Richardson notched as a starter in 2017-18. That's how the Heat can best prepare themselves to take back the East, not by giving minutes to a soon-to-be 32-year-old James Johnson who will not be here when the Heat next compete for a championship.

Winslow flashed big-time improvement to his game in the playoffs last season, showing glimpses of what the team envisioned when they chose him tenth in the 2015 Draft. Entering his fourth season, it's time for the Heat to take off the training wheels and see if Winslow can take the next step as a starter in the NBA, not as a role player. The Heat have enough of those.

Adebayo, meanwhile, continued to flash Draymond Green handles in a Dwight Howard frame during the Summer League games this past week. He has the potential to change a game on both ends of the floor if given the opportunity. It seems like every game he plays in he does something fans have never seen before. He's a Twitter dunk GIF waiting to happen. He should play. A lot. There are guys on the Heat who played more than Adebayo last season who have had their chance and proven to be nothing more than pedestrian NBA players.

Let's play the kids now. We know what the present looks like for the Heat and it's not great. So let's see what the future holds.